ROUND 11 PREVIEW V PERTH

WEST Perth hasn’t lost to Perth since 2011, hasn’t lost at Lathlain Park since 2004 and is now on a four-game winning streak heading into Saturday's Round 11 clash with Perth.

West Perth heads to Lathlain Park in fifth position on the WAFL ladder following four strong wins over Swan Districts, Claremont, Peel Thunder and Subiaco. The Falcons have dramatically improved from a tough position at 1-4 to now be 5-4 and have plenty of momentum.

On top of that, West Perth has dominated Perth over the past decade. Perth's last win at Lathlain Park over West Perth came back in Round 9, 2004. Since then the Falcons have won 10 of the 11 matches only intersected by a draw in 2008.

Those 10 wins for West Perth at Lathlain Park have come at an average of 37 points.

Overall, the Falcons have now won their last seven games against the Demons as well by an average of 46 points. Perth's last win against West Perth was Round 11, 2011 at HBF Arena.

West Perth can make it five straight wins and further entrench themselves in the top five heading into the WA Day Derby next week against East Perth at HBF Arena.

Perth is fresh off the bye looking for a second win in three games as the Demons host an in-form West Perth at Lathlain Park with the Falcons having won four in a row and not having lost at Lathlain Park since 2004.

Perth is coming off the bye following a loss to East Fremantle but prior to that the Demons got their second win of the season over Swan Districts and now will be looking to continue their improvement on Saturday.

Neither side has started well in games over the course of the season with Perth ranked last for first quarters being outscored by an average of 17 points in 2016. The Falcons aren’t much better ranked seventh conceding 73 more points over the season.

West Perth has been better over the last three quarters, though, only being outscored by a total of two points over the season while Perth is still minus 157 after quarter-time through all eight games to date.

The midfield battle will be fascinating between the two teams. Without doubt that is Perth's great strength led by ruckman Angus Graham and prime movers Clint Jones, Aidan Tropiano, Julian Jacobs and Liam McKenna.

West Perth coach Bill Monaghan has tried Tyler Keitel and Drew Rohde in the ruck against different opponents with some success in 2016 in the absence of Chris Keunen, but he's likely to again back in Seva Mozhaev to go up against Graham on Saturday.

Shane Nelson has been in remarkable ball-winning form since returning to West Perth's side the past four weeks. The Falcons have not lost since his return and that has also coincided with the tagging roles performed by Dean Munns who will have another big job against Perth's midfield.

Nelson and Munns get plenty of support from Aidan Lynch, Jay van Berlo, Aaron Black, Trent Manzone and Rohan Kerr through the middle for West Perth.

West Perth is still without Chris Keunen, Joel Leeson, Brayden Antonio and Matt Guadagnin but the team is looking a lot more solid and consistency has been the key over the last four wins to get the season right back on track.

As a result, there's little reason for changes from the team that beat Subiaco last week but Mozhaev could come in to carry the ruck with Kris Shannon and Luke Tedesco in the selection mix.

Perth will welcome back captain Dene White to add another cog to the midfield with the skipper playing a second game back in the reserves prior to the bye. He had a solid 23 possessions and two goals that day against East Fremantle.

The Demons desperately need a way to find a way to score though having averaged just 62 points a game this season. In attempting to do that, Rowan Brookes, Stephen Mills and Matt Thompson could all come in to take on West Perth and attempt to provide goals.

However, Perth is also the worst defensive team in the league conceding 98 points a game so strengthening the back-line could also be a focus for coach Earl Spalding.

West Perth coach Bill Monaghan knows that no matter who Perth does or doesn’t have available come Saturday that the Falcons can't afford to take them lightly.

"I know that Perth is a bit stretched at the moment with their talls they have out so we have to get the balance right. We just need to make sure that we don’t take Perth lightly," Monaghan said.

"We're not in a position to treat anyone without the utmost respect and we'll train hard this week, plan hard and hopefully be ready for Graham in the ruck, Jones in the midfield, McKenna on the outside or Walley playing as a small forward.

"They have a very good side but like we were early in the season, they've just been handed a rough trot with their injuries and I'm not sure after a bye how many will come back for them. We will work hard to be at our very best and hopefully that will be enough to win."

ROUND 11
PERTH (2-6, 8th) v WEST PERTH (5-4, 5th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.15PM
Broadcast – 107.3 HFM

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