THE Men’s Premier League 2017-18 season will embark on Cross Conference matches between Fremantle and UWA teams for the first time this Saturday as the South Fremantle Bloods look to remain undefeated against one of three 2-1 teams from the UWA Conference.

The new-look Premier League for the 2017-18 has begun with three rounds where the teams in the respective Fremantle and UWA Conference have done battle with one another.

Now with the four teams in each group having played each other once, it’s time for the first round of action against the rival conference setting the stage for some fascinating matches on Saturday, and one on Thursday evening.

Two of the matches on Saturday will take place at Bicton Pool starting at 3.45pm when two winless teams from each conference, Port Colts and City Beach meet. Then at 5pm, it’s the Melville Sharks up against the UWA City Beach Flotsam team.

The other match on Saturday takes place at HBF Stadium at 2.45pm with the UWA City Beach Rangers playing the undefeated South Fremantle Bloods.

The round will conclude on Thursday evening at Beatty Park with Triton playing Dolphins.

The first of the Cross Conference battles looks set to be a cracking contest with Rangers hosting the Bloods at HBF Stadium.

Rangers come into the game have won two of their three matches against UWA Conference rivals including a dominant 11-2 victory last Saturday with Lach Pethick, Will Lantzke and Lachie Vos scoring two goals each, and rising star Tim Putt outstanding.

The Bloods, meanwhile, have been the standout team so far in the Fremantle Conference with the Melville club scoring impressive wins against Dolphins, the Sharks and Port Colts.

That included an 8-4 victory last Saturday over Dolphins with Michael Brown and Will McKay scoring twice each, and Petar Tomasevic particularly impressive.

That all sets the stage for a tremendous battle between an impressive Rangers UWA team against the undefeated South Fremantle from Melville.

Attention then turns to Bicton Pool for the Cross Conference action in Round 4 on Saturday starting with the battle of the winless teams with Port Colts playing City Beach.

Port Colts have lost all three of their Fremantle Conference games to Dolphins, Melville Sharks and South Fremantle Bloods. They have been competitive, though, including just at three-goal loss last Saturday to the Sharks where Davis Verboon and Luca Altieri scored two goals each.

City Beach has struggled with a youthful group against largely experienced opponents in the UWA Conference in the form of Triton, Flotsam and Rangers.

They are significantly the youngest of the three clubs entered from UWA in the Premier League for this season and while the results haven’t been there so far, there have been impressive performances especially from Sam Rowbottam.

With one of the two teams to get on the board for their first win of 2017, it sets the stage for a crucial early season match up.

The last match up on Saturday is also at Bicton Pool with the Melville Sharks playing Flotsam.

It should be another tremendous contest with the Sharks coming into the game having won two of three games in the Fremantle Conference. They beat Dolphins and Port Colts, but came up short against the South Fremantle Bloods.

But returning Rio Olympian Joel Swift after a shoulder injury is back and firing for the Sharks along with James Fannon, Jake Leavy and Nick Redbond helping to form a strong line-up.

Flotsam had an up and down start to the season beating City Beach but losing to Rangers before delivering a tremendous performance last Saturday to beat the previously undefeated Triton 11-4.

The performance included four goals from Nick Hughes, three from Andrew Ford and three from Alex Bogunovich. All three are stars for the UWA Torpedoes and building form nicely ahead of the 2018 NWPL season.

It won’t be until Thursday evening at Beatty Park that the round concludes with Triton playing Dolphins.

Triton had been a dominant team in the UWA Conference over the first two rounds with wins over City Beach and Rangers before going down to Flotsam.

But with such international and national league experience in the line-up from Brett McGhie, Florian Naroska and Matt Oberman, along with talent such as Jayden Horne, Max Contessi, Gaby Tebar and Jack Perry, and it’s an ominous side.

They will present a significant test for the Dolphins on Thursday night. They have won once and lost twice so far this season in the Fremantle Conference.

PREMIER LEAGUE 2017-18 MEN’S COMPETITION FIXTURES

ROUND 4 – Saturday November 4
Cross Conference
Rangers v South Fremantle Bloods – HBF Stadium 2.45pm
Port Colts v City Beach – Bicton Pool 3.45pm
Melville Sharks v Flotsam – Bicton Pool 5.00pm

Thursday November 9
Triton v Dolphins – Beatty Park 7.15pm