Rd 16 - Match Preview with Taylor Cowper

East Fremantle head to Pentanet Stadium this Saturday to take on ladder leaders West Perth.

The Sharks currently sit second on the WAFL ladder 2 points behind West Perth after the Falcons had a draw with South Fremantle last weekend.

A win on Saturday afternoon will see them exit round 16 on top of the WAFL ladder.

The last time these two sides played was in round 8 at the WACA Ground where the Sharks won by 2 points.

A big out for the Sharks this weekend is Jonathon Marsh who misses the game due to work commitments. Enrique Aiken-Featherstone and Matt Williamson are also outs for this weekend.

The Sharks welcome back Jeremy Goddard who has missed the last 2 games through suspension and League Coach Bill Monaghan says he is a welcome inclusion to the side.

“Reuben McGuire has been great in the ruck role in the absence of Jeremy. We are looking forward to having them back together working in tandem. Jeremy has worked really hard over the past 3 weeks and is eager to get back on the field”.

Having Goddard back in the side will help without Marsh up forward and gives the Sharks a big man option up forward.

“We are lucky Jeremy is back and presents an option for us up forward”, said Monaghan. “We have known for a few weeks that Jono will be out this weekend due to a work commitment. There is no doubt he will be missed. He is a premier forward in this competition but we need to make sure we look at who is available and not who isn’t”.

East Fremantle will also have another debutant against West Perth this weekend. Jack Cleaver, a versatile defender will join this side after an impressive Reserves performance last weekend. “He is another under state 18 player. He is a mid-sized defender who can play on big and smalls. We are excited to have him play for us this weekend but we are also understanding of the fact we are playing the ladder leaders and he’ll be presented with a great challenge”.

Alexander Montauban also makes his return to the League side this weekend after missing last weekend through soreness.

League Bouncedown is at 2.40pm at Pentanet Stadium in Joondalup. You can watch the game live on 7Mate and through the AFL App. The game is also broadcast on 91.3 Sport FM.