Team Selection | Round 9 & Womens Preliminary Finals

The 2020 season for Peel Thunder will draw to a close this Saturday at Leederville Oval, with Peel presented with one final chance to break their winless season as they face East Perth.

Peel head into this final round of the WAFL season fresh with the Thunder having had the bye in Round Eight.

The Thunder have made 4 changes to the side that faced South Fremantle a fortnight ago. Leading goal kicker Hayden Ballantyne tweaked a hamstring during last weeks game and will not play, with Rob Schindler-Taylor, Oli Walton and Ray Giudici also making way. Jordan Boullineau returns following a few weeks out after a nasty concussion sustained against Swans, also returning from injury are Ryan Bennell, Brad Holmes and James Ewing.

Bouncedown is set for 2.30pm this Saturday. For those that cannot make the game, keep across the Peel social media channels for live and exclusive updates.

IMPACTING FINALS

Even though Peel will not play finals, this week’s game does have the potential to have an impact on finals. East Perth sit one game and percentage behind both fourth placed Subiaco and fifth placed Perth. An upset win will deny East Perth a finals place, while for East Perth, they will be desperate to record a big win, knowing that they could still make the 2020 WAFL finals.

ENDING THE SCORING DROUGHT

For six straight games Peel has failed to break 50 points or kick more than six goals in a game. However, going against an East Perth side that has conceded the third most points in the competition in 2020, things seemed poised for the Peel attack to finish the year strongly. Look for the Thunder midfield to continue to get some ascendency in the middle of the ground and the Peel forwards to make the most of this dominance on Saturday as Peel look to finish the year with a win.

SET TO RECLAIM THE GOAL KICKING TITLE

While he will be absent from the lineup on Saturday, modern day champion of the Peel Thunder Football Club, Hayden Ballantyne is poised to win his second leading goal kicker crown following Saturday’s match. Ballantyne has a seemingly unassailable lead with 10 goals and his nearest teammate being Blair Bell who has kicked six goals for the season. The first time that Ballantyne claimed this award was in his Sandover Medal winning season of 2008.

BACK TO BACK MERRETT

For the second straight year, Jackson Merrett looks set to be the Thunder team leader in disposals, kicks, handballs and marks. In what has been a challenging year for the Thunder, Merrett has been one of the shining lights, leading the club in all of these key categories with the hard working midfielder continued to see the on-field reward of his efforts.

HOPING RECENT FORM CONTINUES

The last eight matches between Peel and East Perth have been split, four wins a piece. Further to that, dating back to the 2017 season the pattern has followed the same way of a win followed by a loss. With East Perth having had won the last battle between the two teams in 2019, Peel will be hoping that the recent trend continues and it is indeed Peel’s turn to taste victory this week.

COLTS TO FINISH STRONG

Prior to the league game, the Peel Colts will look to finish their season with a win and climb off the bottom of the WAFL Colts ladder. Action in the Colts game will start at 12pm.

GIRLS REPRESENT

The two Peel Thunder women’s teams will be in Preliminary Final action this Sunday at David Grays Arena. Peel will host both the WAFLW and Rogers Cup Preliminary Finals, as both sides look to bounceback from second semi final losses, to book a spot in their respective Grand Finals. Both sides suffered narrow losses last week and will go into Sunday’s games as warm favourites, with Subiaco waiting in the WAFLW Grand Final and South Fremantle waiting in the Rogers Cup Grand Final. Should Peel be able to salute in front of their home fans on Sunday, they will like their chances at the following week’s Grand Final. Be sure to get to David Grays Arena on Sunday, with the Rogers Cup game commencing at 10.30am and WAFLW at 2.30pm.

TEAM SELECTION