ROUND 17 PREVIEW V SWAN DISTRICTS

WEST Perth heads to Steel Blue Oval on Saturday to take on Swan Districts looking for a fifth straight WAFL victory to further consolidate second position on the ladder.

Clashes between Swan Districts and West Perth never fail to deliver some of the most exciting contests of any WAFL season, and this Saturday's contest should be no different.

A win for the Falcons would see them remain at least one game and percentage clear in second spot, and possibly two games clear of the rest of the competition if Claremont beats Peel Thunder.

Swan Districts, meanwhile, is clinging to fifth position despite having the bye last weekend on the back of a narrow win over East Perth and a tight loss to South Fremantle.

That sees the black-and-whites sit on a 7-7 record and to be inside the top five just because of a percentage advantage over South Fremantle, so Swans do need to win on Saturday over the Falcons to avoid the prospect of finishing the round again outside of the top five.

Swan Districts and West Perth meet twice now over the next month having played just the once so far this season, and that was back on the Anzac Day holiday Monday.

Swans looked home leading by 26 points at the 22-minute mark of the final quarter, but West Perth then put in a stunning five minutes kicking five goals to win by seven points.

West Perth loses veteran premiership midfielder Matt Guadagnin to a knee injury with scans this week confirming that the 31-year-old will have to undergo the second knee reconstruction of his career ending his 2015 season just as he was building into his very best form again.

Guadagnin joins fellow 2013 premiership players Rohan Kerr (back) and Jordan Jones (hamstring) on the sidelines now for the rest of the 2015 season.

However, the Falcons do still have plenty of depth with Trent Manzone continuing to display outstanding form in the reserves and he had another 30 possessions and five tackles last week against Perth to show he's ready for a call up whenever it does come.

Corey Chalmers missed last week against Perth but could come straight back into the league side for the Falcons to provide another mid-size goalkicking option while Drew Rohde has been a strong contributor this season, and was unlucky to be forced out of the team and could come back in.

Tyson Moulton is also a chance to make his league debut after some consistently strong form in the reserves at either end of the ground, and he kicked three goals from 14 possessions and five marks last Saturday against Perth to come into calculations this Saturday against Swan Districts.

Swan Districts had the bye last week on the back of a tight win over East Perth and from that team the black-and-whites have left out Ben Whitsed who got his chance after being a prolific ball winner in the reserves, but couldn’t get into the game against the Royals or limit the influence of Brant Colledge in a run-with role.

However, Swans look like regaining hard-running defender Jarrad Blight with the injury-plagued 24-year-old having been absence now since Round 6.

David McKay has put himself in the mix for his fifth league appearance with continued strong ball-winning form in the reserves for Swans including another 35 possessions, six tackles and a goal a fortnight ago against East Perth.

Dylan Nelson has been in good goalkicking form in the reserves for Swans so that has him a chance to get another opportunity in the league side after kicking four goals two weeks ago East Perth with Lindsay Murray another who is a chance to get a call up as well by coach Greg Harding.

RESERVES SQUAD
M Ashfield, J Batterham, D Colbung, B Denysiuk, M Douglas, C Franklin, K Fullgrabe, M Geraghty, J Gray, M Hamilton, C Hinchcliffe, A Innes, J Kirwen, T Manners, B McGillivray, D Munns, C Papertalk, M Peirce, S Rotham, J Stoner, T Sutherland, B Walton, B Wilhelm

COLTS SQUAD
N Alexandre, M Antonio, L Baker, K Barnsley, A Charlie, R Dolman, Z Guadagnin, E Hills, J Horgan, J Jennings, C Lynch, N Marinovich, B Mountford, E Mullane, S Nelson, T O'Brien, D Robertson, J Romanelli, J Rotham, L Saunders, J Turner, M Walley, L Ward