Finals Footy is HereMonday, August 28, 2023 - 2:30 PM

East Fremantle have claimed the minor premiership, earning the Sharks a bye in the first week of the WAFL Finals Series.

East Fremantle captain Matthew Jupp said the Club will take advantage of the week off.

“The bye will help freshen us up, it gives us a great opportunity to take stock and set up our campaign,” Jupp said. 

“We’ve had our eyes on this finish for a while, so we see it as another box ticked on our way to the ultimate goal.”

Five clubs are vying for the ultimate prize, but only one club will hold up the premiership cup on Grand Final day.

The Finals action begins on Saturday at Leederville Oval at 2.10pm when second place Subiaco take on third place Peel Thunder. The winner of this match will play East Fremantle next weekend at Fremantle Oval.

The Lions lead the win/loss count against the Thunder 53 to 14.

However, in the past four encounters the Thunder have had the upper hand winning three of those games, the most recent in Round 13 where they defeated Subiaco by 14 points at Leederville Oval.

On Sunday we are back at Leederville Oval with East Perth hosting Claremont. The last five match-ups dating back to Round 17, 2021 has seen the home club record the win, and if history repeats itself it could look like a Royals win in front of home fans. 

However, the Tigers are still licking their wounds from last year’s Grand Final loss to West Perth and will not give up the contest easily.

The Sharks have their fins up and will be circling Leederville Oval on Saturday gaining intel on their upcoming opponents.

“It’s going to be a cracking game with two sides who we have a lot of respect for,” Jupp said. 

“We’ll watch it intently to see who we’ll come up against the following week.”

East Fremantle have been playing their home games at the WACA for the past two seasons, but they will call Fremantle Community Bank Oval their home this Finals Series.

“We have been all over the shop this year, it’s galvinised us and we are enjoying it,” Jupp said.

“We’re well drilled under Bill and we’re a group that is dog-hungry for finals success.”

Fans can expect forward Jono Marsh to return this Finals Series.

“Jono will likely be back for our first final,” Jupp said. 

“He is an important cog to our team, he’s our vice-captain and a real energy and spirit lifter for our group. 

“It will be great to get him back into the team.”

Week One Finals Fixture 

Saturday 2 September
Subiaco v Peel Thunder
Leederville Oval, 2.10pm

Sunday 3 September
East Perth v Claremont
Leederville Oval 2.10pm

Finals Series tickets and Grand Final early bird tickets are available here. https://www.wafootball.com.au/wafl/grand-final-hub/grand-final