Match Preview - Round 4, 2018 V Claremont

Subiaco face a Thursday night battle with Claremont in Round Four of the WAFL 2018 Premiership Season, as for one week, the weekend starts on a Thursday night.

Subiaco face their second battle at Leederville Oval in just five days, after brushing aside Swan Districts on Saturday afternoon to move a game and percentage clear at the top of the WAFL ladder.

Meanwhile Subiaco’s opponents for Thursday night’s marquee broadcast night fixture are coming off their first win of the season after Claremont beat East Fremantle by four points last Saturday as well.

For the first time this year, Subiaco appears set to have a settled side going into the match, with no outs named in Wednesday night’s squad and just three additions.

McKenzie Lawrence, Michael Braut and Daniel Perkins have been added to the 25 man squad with Lawrence and Braut in sparkling form in the reserves and Perkins returning to the mix after a weeks absence back in round two and a solid hitout in the reserves in round three.

Despite concerns about the short turnaround time between games, being just five days, much planning has gone in to ensuring the squad maintained maximum fitness and were ready for this Thursday night clash.

The hard work and planning by the Subiaco Strength & Conditioning team headed by Dan Hiscock appears to have achieved this with veterans Kyal Horsley, Chris Phelan, Leigh Kitchin, Brad Stevenson, Zac Clarke and Lachlan Delahunty all set to go for Thursday night’s televised encounter.

Be at Leederville Oval for first bounce at 7.10pm or catch the action live on 7Mate from 7pm.

GAME CHANGERS

A MATTER OF PERCENTAGE

A lot has been made during the week of Subiaco being the only team in the WAFL with a positive percentage after round three. Subiaco’s three big wins so far leave it sitting with a percentage of 254%, the highest ever percentage recorded by the club after three weeks.

IN THE GOALS

Brad Stevenson and Ben Sokol sit at top of the WAFL goal kicking after three weeks with Stevenson on 13 goals and Sokol on 12 goals. Mid sized forwards Rhys Waters and Kyle Halligan also sit in the top 10 of WAFL goalkicking with Waters on 8 and Halligan on 6. These four have been at the front of a strong Subiaco offensive effort over the opening month of the season.

60-60

Another area that Subiaco are performing at an elite level heading into Thursday night’s game is the performance inside 50. While a number of teams try to convert at 50% of their forward entries and 50% goal accuracy, Subiaco are currently sitting at an astounding 65% of inside 50 conversion and 62% for goal kicking accuracy.

RECENT FORM AGAINST THE TIGERS

The last meeting between Subiaco and Claremont was down in Esperance where Subiaco recorded a 40 point win. Subiaco has won their last six against Claremont dating back to 2015 by an average margin of over 40 points.

QBE DAY

This is the eighth time that Subiaco has played on QBE Day and worn special Cyan jumpers for the event. So far the Lions are 5 wins, 2 losses with the most recent QBE matches being a win over East Fremantle last year and a win over South Fremantle on a Thursday night back in 2016.