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ROUND 21 PREVIEW V SWAN DISTRICTS

Saturday, August 15, 2015 - 10:13 AM by Chris Pike

WEST Perth turns its full focus back to the football on Saturday with a crucial clash with Swan Districts at HBF Arena.

All the attention heaped on the club in the last 24 hours will be forgotten when West Perth runs out on to HBF Arena on Saturday looking to remain unbeaten on its home ground this season and to retain second position on the WAFL ladder with two round of 2015 remaining.

With the Falcons needing to win to remain in second position on the ladder and Swans needing a victory to remain in fifth spot, both teams will be throwing everything at coming away with a victory in what has become a fierce rivalry between the two teams in recent years.

West Perth bounced back from a narrow loss to East Perth last Saturday kicking the first six goals against East Fremantle at ATOM Stadium before going on to win by 73 points.

However, the Falcons are only percentage clear in second position on the ladder and a loss to Swans on Saturday could see them fall below whoever wins Sunday's clash between Peel Thunder and East Perth, so West Perth does need to win to still sit in a good spot for a home final in that first week.

Swan Districts, meanwhile, put in an outstanding performance laying 108 tackles last week to beat the minor premier Subiaco by a point at Steel Blue Oval.

That saw Swans bounce back from losses to Peel and Claremont the previous two weeks and for them to return to fifth position on the ladder, but with a clash with the Tigers next Saturday and the final round bye, it's a must-win clash against the Falcons for the black-and-whites.

West Perth and Swan Districts have made a habit in recent seasons of playing in some of the more remarkable and memorable WAFL clashes and the two previous meetings in 2015 have certainly lived up to that billing.

West Perth won the first clash at HBF Arena on the Anzac Day holiday Monday with the Falcons storming back with the last five goals of the game in the final five minutes to overcome a 26-point deficit and score the remarkable seven-point victory.

Then back in Round 18 at Steel Blue Oval, West Perth led for much of the day but Swan Districts finished the stronger and hit the front with the last goal of the game to win by two points with the siren then sounding a split second before West Perth forward Michael Lourey took a mark that would have given him a shot on goal and a chance at kicking the match-winner.

Premiership star Rohan Kerr might have only played one game back in the reserves having put off surgery on his back to try and play out the last part of the 2015 season, but he had 17 possessions last week against East Fremantle and it could be enough for him to return against Swan Districts.

Two-time fairest and best winner Shane Nelson is also likely to come back into the Falcons midfield against Swans after missing last week's game against the Sharks with a minor ankle complaint.

Dean Munns had another 20 possessions and 11 tackles in the reserves last week to continue to press for his league debut while Brayden Antonio and Sam Rotham are both in calculations to get a call up into the side to take on the black-and-whites.

West Perth does lose two important players following last week's big win over East Fremantle and both through hamstring injuries suffered by premiership defender Laine Rasmussen, and speedster Kris Shannon.

Swan Districts put in a terrific performance, especially physically with their pressure, last Saturday to beat Subiaco and to return to the top five and the black-and-whites have pulled up well from that with no enforced changes for this Saturday's clash with West Perth at HBF Arena.

Dylan Nelson continues to work hard in the reserves in the forward-line to continue to put himself in the mix for a league call up with Josh Kirkup having 18 possessions, five marks and a goal from defence last week against Subiaco.

Logan Hughes has also been in good reserves form with the 23-year-old in the mix to make his league debut for the black-and-whites in what is shaping as a virtual must-win contest if they hope to play finals in 2015.