QUALIFYING FINAL PREVIEW V PEEL THUNDER

WEST Perth will look to kick off the 2015 WAFL finals in style in Sunday with the league side tackling Peel Thunder in a qualifying final, and the reserves and colts both taking part in elimination finals.

HBF Arena will host home finals for all three West Perth teams on Sunday starting with the reserves taking on East Perth at 9am in an elimination final. The Falcons colts then mark their return to finals action by facing East Fremantle also in an elimination final starting at 11.40am.

The main event is then the league qualifying final between West Perth and Peel Thunder with bounce down at 2.15pm.

LEAGUE QUALIFYING FINAL
WEST PERTH (13-7, 2nd) v PEEL THUNDER (13-7, 3rd) – HBF ARENA, SUNDAY 2.15PM 
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 91.3 SportFM, KIX Digital

The WAFL's oldest club and its youngest do battle in a qualifying final at HBF Arena on Sunday with West Perth looking to continue its quest for 20th premiership as Peel Thunder embarks on its first ever finals appearance.

While Peel is set to play its first final since entering the WAFL in 1997, West Perth has plenty of finals history behind it having won 19 premierships including most recently in 2013.

Peel had never seriously threatened to make finals prior to 2015, but the Thunder now deserve their place and despite the intrigue over the line-up they will field on Sunday, they are sure to throw everything into making their maiden finals appearance a winning one.

West Perth and Peel both finished the 2015 season with 13-7 records with the Falcons only holding on to second position because of percentage that sees them earn the right to host the qualifying final at HBF Arena on Sunday.

West Perth had won three straight matches to book in second position prior to last week's loss at home to Claremont that provided the Falcons with their first defeat at HBF Arena for 2015 following nine straight victories.

Meanwhile, Peel has twice recorded club-record four-game winning streaks during 2015 with the most recent only ending with a Round 22 loss to East Perth prior to the Thunder bouncing back with a 39-point victory over South Fremantle last Saturday.

Now, West Perth and Peel fight over the right to face Subiaco in next Sunday's second semi-final at Medibank Stadium while the loser will host a first semi-final against either East Perth or Claremont.

West Perth and Peel played one another twice during the season and while the Falcons won both contests, each of them could have gone either way.

West Perth won by seven points in Round 2 at HBF Arena and then by four points in perhaps the highest quality contest of the entire season in Round 11 at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

The fact that the last meeting was more than three months ago and given the changes in personnel to both teams that will take the field on Sunday, it's likely little can be read into it.

However, travelling to HBF Arena will hold no fears for Peel despite the distance considering they narrowly lost there in Round 2 and should have won there last year had it not been for the fast-finishing Falcons and a last second goal from the now retired Anthony Tsalikis.

While much of the focus this week has been on how Fremantle's decision to rest a host of its key AFL players ahead of the finals will impact Peel's ability to field a competitive team on Sunday, West Perth has plenty of its own selection dilemmas as well coming into the finals.

West Perth has done a good job of trying to give a rest to a couple of players who need it each week over the past month, but now with the majority of the squad now fit and available for Sunday's qualifying final, some tough decisions will need to be made.

Aside from Matt Guadagnin and Jordan Jones who are out with long-term injuries, West Perth looks set to have just about everyone available for selection on Sunday including Andrew Strijk (ankle), Marcus Adams (cut head) and Kris Shannon (corked calf) who got hurt last week against Claremont.

From the team that lost to Claremont last week, West Perth will look to have premiership players from 2013 Kody Manning, Shane Nelson and Laine Rasmussen all return to take on Peel on Sunday.

Tyler Keitel and Joe Morrow have both formed an important part of the West Perth back-line in the second half of 2015, and look set to come straight back in for the qualifying final as well although that might depend on whether or not Peel end up naming forwards for them to match up on.

That means that with four, and possibly five, players to come straight back into the West Perth line-up some tough decisions will need to be made on who misses out.

Ruckman Tim Sutherland has been the first to lose his place after the first two games of his league career and the likes of Blake Wilhelm, Drew Rohde, Luke Meadows, Corey Chalmers, Ray Bartholomew, Matt Johnson and Steve Potente face nervous waits.

However, the positive for those who miss out on league selection this week is far from season-ending given they will be able to play in the elimination final in the reserves against East Perth with the potential of then being recalled next week.

From Peel's team last Saturday that beat South Fremantle, Fremantle has called up Lachie Weller, Tanner Smith, Max Duffy, Brady Grey, Jack Hannath, Ethan Hughes and Hayden Crozier.

Meanwhile, Connor Blakely, Ed Langdon, Tendai Mzungu, Paul Duffield, Zac Clarke, Alex Pearce and Matt Taberner are others who have played a big role in Peel qualifying for their first ever finals appearance but who will be required by Fremantle on Saturday against Port Adelaide.

That does leave the Thunder without Smith, Hughes, Pearce and Duffield from the back-line, minus ruckmen Clarke and Hannath, midfielders Weller, Grey, Blakely, Langdon and Mzungu, and forwards Duffy, Crozier and Taberner.

But none of that should mean that Peel can't put in a competitive showing on Sunday as the Thunder embark on a historic maiden finals appearance.

With captain Brendon Jones leading the way in his first final after a WAFL-record 218 games, Peel also has the two best small forwards in the competition in Leroy Jetta and Gerald Ugle who kicked 10 goals between them last week, and have booted a combined 75 goals for the 2015 season.

Then there is former Carlton defender Josh Bootsma who is having a strong season and there will still be Fremantle ruckman Craig Moller should also play for Peel along with utility Tom Vandeleur and versatile Irish key position player Sean Hurley.

The situation will also provide a host of opportunities for Peel players from the reserves to receive an opportunity, and Jake Dowding, Kyle Shanahan, Harrison Tyler, Mitch Wallace and Jack Gomboc could all make their league debuts.

Brennan Gillam is also a chance to play his first game of the season despite missing the last two weeks with injury as is Scott Ugle, Corey Morris and Stephen Kane with Mitch Gill, Nathan Fahey and Laine Wilkins also in the mix to play on Sunday in the Thunder's first ever finals appearance.

RESERVES ELIMINATION FINAL
WEST PERTH (10-2-8, 4th) v EAST PERTH (10-10, 5th) – HBF ARENA, SUNDAY 9AM 
Selected teams 

It's a Perth derby in a reserves elimination final to open proceedings at HBF Arena on Sunday morning with West Perth hosting East Perth with both putting their seasons on the line.

With East Perth's league side playing at Medibank Stadium later in the afternoon, it was decided that the reserves would pick up the early time slot at HBF Arena on Sunday with the Falcons hosting the Royals in the elimination final.

Little separated the two teams all season with West Perth and East Perth both winning 10 games apiece, but the Falcons claimed fourth position ahead of the Royals thanks to having two draws during the season.

West Perth and East Perth played one another three times throughout the home and away season with some vastly contrasting results.

West Perth scored a thumping 85-point win in Round 8 at HBF Arena before then on WA Day, it was a much tighter affair with the Falcons again coming away with a seven-point victory at Medibank Stadium.

However, the Royals were able to change the tide in Round 19 back again at Medibank Stadium with East Perth winning 14.14 (98) to 11.4 (70).

The winner will go on to take on the loser of Sunday's qualifying final between Subiaco and Swan Districts next Sunday, while the loser's season is over.

West Perth have a good blend of youth and experience in its reserves team for the elimination final with a host of players looking to keep themselves in contention for a league position throughout September as well.

League premiership player from 2013 Marc Crisp will feature for the Falcons in the reserves while Max Alexander, Brayden Antonio, Callum Papertalk, Sam Rotham, Tim Sutherland and Mitch van Berlo have all played league football in 2015, and could do so again during the finals.

The three emergencies from West Perth's league side to play Peel Thunder in the qualifying final will also play reserves on Sunday further strengthening the Falcons' line-up, and coming back with a point to prove.

East Perth's reserves team also features plenty of exciting talent including Julian Ameduri, Shayne Hille, Mitch Lague, Damian Lee and Lewis Wilson who have played league football in 2015 while the colts Jack Clarke Medal winner Stan Wright is set to play with the Royals as well.

Daniel Perkins has also stood up as an impressive key forward in the last month of the season to give the Royals a strong avenue to goal while like West Perth, the three East Perth emergencies from its league side should also take part in the reserves elimination final.

COLTS ELIMINATION FINAL
WEST PERTH (11-9, 5th) v EAST FREMANTLE (11-9, 4th) – HBF ARENA, SUNDAY 11.40AM
Selected teams 

West Perth's colts return to finals action for the first time in over a decade as the Falcons host East Fremantle at HBF Arena on Sunday in the WAFL elimination final.

East Fremantle's colts team is the only side from the Sharks to qualify for the finals and now they face a big ask to keep their season alive despite having finishing in fourth position ahead of West Perth on percentage at the end of the home and away season.

With West Perth's league and colts teams also earning home finals for Sunday, the colts contest between the Falcons and Sharks has been scheduled for HBF Arena with the later start time of 11.40am.

The winner between West Perth and East Fremantle will go on to face the loser of the colts qualifying final between Swan Districts and Peel Thunder next Sunday, while the loser's season will be over.

West Perth and East Fremantle played one another just twice during the home and away season with the Sharks winning the first meeting by 21 points at HBF Arena in Round 9.

The Falcons then turned the tide in emphatic fashion at ATOM Stadium in Round 20 recording a 7.4 (46) to 2.4 (16) victory.

There is plenty of exciting talent on either side as well with West Perth's side featuring Josh Rotham, Clint Hinchliffe and Mitch Antonio who were all named in the WAFL Colts Team of the Year during the week as were East Fremantle's Joe Hebiton, Fraser Perry and Michael Cronan.