FOXTEL CUP SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW V WESTERN STORM

WEST Perth takes on Tasmania's Western Storm at Patersons Stadium on Tuesday night in a Foxtel Cup semi-final with a grand final berth at stake.

The game will be shown live on Fox Footy but all supporters are encouraged to come down to Patersons Stadium if possible.

The game begins at 6.30pm with entry free to the stadium from 6pm. The general public can gain access through Gate 26 with the two tier stand open for public seating – blocks 103 to 113, 207 to 213 and 303 to 313.

The game might not have four premiership WAFL points on the line for West Perth, but there is plenty riding on the result. A victory for the Falcons will see them qualify for the Tuesday July 22 grand final.

That means that West Perth would earn at least $40,000 in prizemoney just for qualifying for the grand final and potentially $100,000 if they are then able to go on and win it.

West Perth qualified for the Foxtel Cup semi-final by beating the VFL's Box Hill Hawks at Etihad Stadium in a thriller by a point back on May 6 while the Western Storm also won a nail-biter against the SANFL's West Adelaide by four points at Adelaide Oval on April 29 to advance.

Remarkably it is the Storm's first season in existence in the Tasmanian State Football League after they replaced last year's premiers and the now defunct South Launceston.

West Perth currently sits in fifth position on the WAFL ladder with a 5-6 record to be three matches currently outside of the top-four while the Western Storm currently sit in second position in the TSFL with an 8-2 record.

This year is the second time that West Perth has participated in the Foxtel Cup with the last time being in 2012 when the Falcons beat Ainslie at Blacktown in Sydney before going down to Williamstown while making history as the first WAFL club to ever play on the MCG.

West Perth's team does include seven WAFL premiership players from last year's grand final victory over East Perth with another two in Aaron Black and Nick Rodda named as emergencies.

Aidan Lynch, Mitch McPhee, Ben King and Corey Chalmers come into the West Perth line-up and will make their senior debuts while Luke Tedesco and Marcus Adams are unavailable through injury, and Shane Nelson, Andrew Strijk, Jay van Berlo and Dan Hunt rested.

From the Storm team that did defeat West Adelaide to open the Foxtel Cup competition for 2014 there are only three changes for the semi-final with Cody Thorp, Trent Page and Beau Tuthill coming in at the expense of Tim Jones, Jake Huett and Roy Thomas.

On that night the Storm put enormous pressure on their West Adelaide opponents applying an enormous 84 tackles in the shortened format while winning 110 contested possessions out of their 161 for the match, and that adds up to West Perth facing a physical contest on Tuesday night.

The winner of the semi-final on Tuesday night will be the first team through to the grand final of 2014 in the Foxtel Cup with their opponents to be decided next Tuesday night when East Perth plays the VFL's Williamstown also at Patersons Stadium.

FOXTEL CUP SEMI-FINAL TEAMS

WEST PERTH

Backs: Mitch van Berlo Shaun Marusic Kris Shannon

Half Backs: Luke Meadows Joe Morrow Steven Browne

Centres: Brayden Antonio Ray Bartholomew Rohan Kerr

Half Forwards: Matt Guadagnin Max Alexander Mitch McPhee

Forwards: Marc Crisp Seva Martin Corey Chalmers

Followers: Chris Keunen Jack Thrum Trent Manzone

Interchange: Ben King Aidan Lynch Matthew Johnson Cameron Branch

Emergencies: Aaron Black Nick Rodda Drew Rohde

WESTERN STORM

Backs: Lewis Ritchie Tom Reinmuth Chris Taylor

Half Backs: Clinton Drake Will Hanson Jordan Bennett

Centres: Jade Child Matt Hanson Billy Jack

Half Forwards: Shaun Collis Mitch Hills Zane Brown

Forwards: Braden McGee Bart McCulloch Alex Russell

Followers: Cody Thorp Jay Blackberry Thane Bardenhagen

Interchange: Beau Thorp Trent Page Beau Tuthill Logan Barker  

Emergencies: Jonathan James Brodie Palfreyman Darryn Thomas