GRAND FINAL PREVIEW V EAST PERTH

WEST Perth and East Perth have both waited a long time for another WAFL grand final appearance and now it just happens to be up against one another with the Falcons and Royals entering the premiership decider with similar form lines.

The Falcons have not played in a grand final since winning the 2003 premiership and in fact had not won a final of any type in six attempts before winning the second semi-final over Claremont at Claremont Oval a fortnight ago by four points.

West Perth was in the second semi-final after finishing the home and away season with a 13-7 record to be in second position, and then the Falcons advanced straight to the grand final with the win over Claremont that could have been by so much more if they kicked straight.

East Perth, on the other hand, only guaranteed its place in the finals with a final round victory over Subiaco and ended up finishing in fourth spot before beating Swan Districts at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval in the first semi-final.

The Royals then turned on their best performance of the whole 2013 season in last Sunday's preliminary final beating Claremont by 63 points at Claremont Oval to set up a derby grand final for the first time since 2002.

That 2002 decider where East Perth beat West Perth by 60 points was the Royals' last appearance in a grand final.

Sunday will be the seventh Perth derby grand final in history with West Perth having won four and East Perth two.

The first came in 1922 when East Perth won by 16 points with West Perth getting revenge 10 years later in 1932 with a 43-point victory.

It took 28 years for the two teams to meet in the big day again and it was West Perth who prevailed by 32 points with the then Cardinals also winning by 73 points in 1969.

West Perth also won in 1971 by 32 points before East Perth got over the line by 60 points in 2002 to complete the Royals' premiership hat-trick.

The Falcons and Royals met three times this season with West Perth scoring a thumping 75-point win in Round 1 and also winning by 30 points at Arena Joondalup in Round 19, but East Perth won the Foundation (WA) Day clash at Medibank Stadium by 19 points thanks to a huge last quarter.

Given it's a derby and the passion is so intense between both clubs, the start is sure to be on for young and old, but East Perth will have to be on guard to start well.

Over the course of the season, West Perth has been terrific in opening quarters outscoring its opposition by 45 points.

While the Falcons did also win their second and last terms over the season, they were by smaller margins but they did also dominate third quarters with a 10.21 advantage over their oppositions.

East Perth's first quarters might not have been good over the course of the 2013 season with the Royals outscored by 88 points, they have had a tendency to get better the longer games have gone on.

While losing first quarters, East Perth has won its second terms by 18 points, third by 38 and then final terms by 88 points.

There will be enthralling battles all over the field come Sunday as well starting in the middle with the ruck clash between West Perth's 129-game veteran Chris Keunen and East Perth's experienced former AFL big man Paul Johnson, who will also be helped out by Scott Lycett.

Then there will be the midfield battle at the big men's feet featuring West Perth's Mark Hutchings, Jay van Berlo, Matt Guadagnin, Shane Nelson and Aaron Black, and East Perth's Brendan Lee, Jamie Cripps, Craig Wulff, Mat Seal and Adam Selwood.

West Perth will be without full-back Michael Pettigrew due to a hamstring injury meaning the job of trying to stop Bernie Naylor Medallist Josh Smith will fall to 150-game veteran Dan Hunt.

Shaun Marusic or Nick Rodda will then share the job on Lycett or Johnson when they are forward for East Perth with Jordan Jones, Steven Browne, Andrew Strijk and whichever two are picked out of Luke Tedesco, Laine Rasmussen and Trent Manzone to get the jobs on Michael Swan, Arthur Bennell, Dean Cadwallader and other Royals small/mid-size forwards.

West Perth has a somewhat unconventional forward-line with either Marusic or Rodda to be the main target and matched up by East Perth defender Jacob Derickx. East Perth's top defender Kyle Anderson could then go to Fremantle's Josh Mellington.

There will be an incredible five radio stations plus ABC TV broadcasting the clash.

On top of ABC TV telecasting the game state-wide, 720 ABC Perth, 882 6PR, 91.3 SportFM, 990am Informational Radio and Hot Country Digital will all be providing the coverage of the 2013 WAFL grand final between the Falcons and Royals this Sunday afternoon.

BY CHRIS PIKE