Peel Thunder braved the rain and the burden of previous losses with a 24-point win against second-placed South Fremantle at Rushton Park on Saturday.

The Thunder stayed ahead all game and their strong start and pressure lent them to a final score of 13.12(90) to the Bulldogs’ 9.12(66).

Ruckman Lloyd Meek said the team knew it wouldn’t be easy taking on the second-placed Bulldogs considering the season they’ve had.

“Obviously we haven't had the greatest start to the whole three quarters of the season that we wanted, but we're prepared to come home really strong and today was positive to see that we've sent a message out to the league,” he said.

Peel Thunder came out swinging in the first quarter, securing five goals and four behinds from the offset.

Meek said that strong starts have always been a focus point of Peel’s game. 

“We like to come out strong and really set the scene for the day and there were a few big tackles that were laid early and everyone sort of buys in and gets on board when the boys can produce that,” he said. 

“So, a really positive start and then obviously we carried that tone throughout the whole day.”

When the third quarter came around, South Fremantle came out firing, closing the margin to two points.

“They probably didn't expect us to put up as much of a fight as we did in the first half,” Meek said.

“We know that every team is going to come in that third quarter, it's a really important quarter, and luckily we were able to respond to that and then able to then continue that into the fourth to get the win.”

And continue they did – Peel entered the fourth quarter strongly, piling on four more goals on the board to secure the win.

Meek said coach Cam Shepherd’s emphasis on team work going into that final quarter was important.

“(Cam said there are) 22 blokes, playing 22 roles, there's no individuals, in the end you're going to have to dig deep because we knew that South would, and we knew that if we want to make finals realistically we have to put in, and we did,” he said. 

Another positive sign from the win was 18-year-old forward Hugh Dixon, who kicked three goals.

“He's really showed what he's capable of today and he's very handy around the goal's, he always knows where they are, and puts in a lot of effort,” Meek said.

Peel Thunder will meet West Perth next Saturday 28 July at Joondalup Arena with bouncedown at 2:15pm.