Saturday night looms as a massive test for the Western Bulldogs as they look to avoid going 1-4 for the first time since 2013, as they travel west to the newly-built Optus Stadium in the Western Australian capital to take on the Fremantle Dockers. After hitting some form over the past couple of weeks, it will be very interesting to see how Luke Beveridge's Bulldogs act in a stadium that they have never played in before.
After breaking through for their first win of the season in round three against the Bombers, the Bulldogs took the fight right up to Sydney for most of the game last Saturday night. Their were portions of which they controlled the Swans and the stats may have suggested that they should've taken the points last week, but were let down by poor finishing in front of the goals. In the first month of football, the Western Bulldogs have kicked more behinds than goals in every game.
That's not only the worse accuracy in the league – but it's also a significant worry if they can't capitalise on their opportunities. The intensity and the workrate has been fantastic the past two weeks – even bringing back shades of 2016 according to numerous AFL experts, but unless they can work on their polishing in front of the big sticks, then losses will continue to pile up.
Fremantle are no longer push-overs in this league and they will be up for this contest after they had a decent showing against the Giants last week. They ended up going down by five goals, but they made their highly-fancied opponents work for their touches and their goals and although still relatively young, there's a lot of upside in Ross Lyon's charges and the fact that they've rebounded strongly from their opening round defeat against Port Adelaide – winning two of three games – shows that they will challenge a lot of teams this season.
It's no secret that the Dogs often struggle up in Western Australia. Against Fremantle, the Dogs have lost their past four to the Dockers out West, with their last win against the purple and whites away, happening nearly 10 years ago. Round 1, 2009 was the last time the Dogs got over the Dockers in Perth. On top of that, they have lost nine of their last 10 matches in Perth, and facing a crowd that will be unmistakeably be pro-Dockers, they face an upward battle to break this horrible streak of losses against Fremantle away.
On top of that, recent history between the two teams, haven't fallen in the Dogs' favour either, with the Sons of the West winning one match from their past seven outings – Can the Bulldogs buck the trend and get a badly-needed win away from home on Saturday night?
The Teams Western Bulldogs
IN: Tom Boyd, Patrick Lipinski, Lukas Webb, Zaine Cordy OUT: Shane Biggs (Omitted), Lachie Hunter (Suspended), Jack Redpath (Knee Soreness), Bailey Williams (Ear Infection)
B: Ed Richards, Aaron Naughton, Zaine Cordy HB: Matthew Suckling, Easton Wood, Jason Johannisen C: Patrick Lipinski, Luke Dahlhaus, Bailey Dale HF: Josh Dunkley, Marcus Bontempelli, Mitch Wallis F: Tory Dickson, Tom Boyd, Billy Gowers FOL: Tim English, Toby McLean, Jack Macrae INT: Lukas Webb, Mitch Honeychurch, Caleb Daniel, Lin Jong EMG: Lewis Young, Jordan Roughead, Shane Biggs, Callum Porter
Four changes to the Bulldogs side that lost by seven points last weekend, however three of those have been forced changes. Lachie Hunter's one-week suspension for violently shoving Tom Papley's head into the Etihad Stadium turf hurts the midfield a fair bit and has been one of the Dogs' best players so far this year, whilst Bailey Williams (Inner ear infection) and Jack Redpath (Nursing a sore knee) will sit out of this encounter – both men have been solid in the time they've played this season. Shane Biggs is dropped once again after a very ordinary performance last week against the Swans.
However, the Ins this week have me intrigued and to a lesser extent, excited. Tom Boyd will get his first run of 2018, however I'm not sure a five-goal haul against a dismal VFL outfit in Coburg would've been enough, but they need a key forward down there with Redpath out. Zaine Cordy is back from suspension, whilst Lukas Webb is back from a small stint in the VFL and will be handy either down back or in the middle. Patrick Lipinski is also in for his first game of 2018 and second career game after a promising match last year against Hawthorn, which saw him register three behinds. Fremantle IN: Taylin Duman, Ed Langdon OUT: Michael Johnson (Rested), Tommy Sheridan (Omitted)
B: Nathan Wilson, Joel Hamling, Luke Ryan HB: Andrew Brayshaw, Alex Pearce, Ed Langdon C: Mitchell Crowden, Lachie Neale, Stephen Hill HF: Darcy Tucker, Cam McCarthy, Hayden Ballantyne F: Brandon Matera, Matt Taberner, Michael Walters FOL: Aaron Sandilands, Nat Fyfe, David Mundy INT: Taylin Duman, Adam Cerra, Connor Blakely, Bailey Banfield EMG: Michael Johnson, Tommy Sheridan, Danyle Pearce, Ethan Hughes
The Dockers have made two changes following their loss to the Giants last Saturday, opting to rest veteran defender Michael Johnson, whilst dropping Tommy Sheridan. Coming into the side will the see Fremantle name its fifth debutant of the year, with rookie-listed defender Taylin Duman named for his first AFL career game on Saturday, along with utility Ed Langdon, who was a late out in last week's game due to illness.
Taken with the third overall pick in the AFL's Rookie Draft back in 2016 from the Oakleigh Chargers, Duman can be the kind of guy that can definitely play third-man up and given his height – standing at 192 centimetres – he can try and emulate what Michael Johnson has done so well over his career at Fremantle. He becomes the fifth AFL debutant that Fremantle has blooded so far this year, with Andrew Brayshaw, Adam Cerra, Bailey Bamfield and Mitch Crowden all coming into the side and playing some decent footy in their first year.
Recent History (Last 10 Matches)
Round 3, 2017 – Subiaco: Fremantle 13.11.89 def Western Bulldogs 10.13.73
Round 23, 2016 – Subiaco: Fremantle 10.9.69 def Western Bulldogs 6.13.49
Round 1, 2016 – Etihad Stadium: Western Bulldogs 15.13.103 def Fremantle 5.8.38
Round 7, 2015 – Etihad Stadium: Western Bulldogs 14.4.88 def by Fremantle 15.11.101
Round 11, 2014 – Etihad Stadium: Western Bulldogs 6.15.51 def by Fremantle 13.11.89
Round 2, 2013 – Etihad Stadium: Western Bulldogs 11.12.78 def by Fremantle 16.10.106
Round 15, 2012 – Subiaco: Fremantle 14.11.95 def Western Bulldogs 8.9.57
Round 24, 2011 – Etihad Stadium: Western Bulldogs 15.17.107 def Fremantle 8.13.61
Round 5, 2011 – Subiaco: Fremantle 12.13.85 def Western Bulldogs 11.12.78
Round 17, 2010 – Etihad Stadium: Western Bulldogs 24.14.158 def Fremantle 12.4.76
Players To Watch
Western Bulldogs
Tim English
Along with Aaron Naughton, this game will be somewhat of a homecoming for WA-boy Tim English, who is starting to slowly build confidence with each game he plays. He's in good-enough form, that he's keeping premiership ruckman Jordan Roughead out of the 22. After a strong performance last week against Sydney's Callum Sinclair, he's coming up against an old head in the ruck department in Aaron Sandilands. He may get monstered in the ruck a fair bit, but this young man, might have the athletic attributes to get the best of him around the ground. An interesting battle awaits.
Josh Dunkley
It was somewhat of an indifferent performance from Josh Dunkley last week. He got a fair bit of the ball, and was quite dangerous whenever he got near it, but his finishing in front of the big sticks was absolutely dreadful, and he would definitely love his time back again with that dropped chestmark at the top of the goal-square. But we all know he's still young and he's still developing his craft as a midfielder/forward. However, on the back of a poor performance in front of goals, he will need to rebound strongly if the Dogs are to be a chance.
Fremantle
Nat Fyfe
The 2015 Brownlow Medallist has started the 2018 season off magnificently. Averaging 28.5 disposals, 7.5 clearances, five inside 50s, 4.2 inside 50s and 4.2 marks per game, as well as averaging a goal a game, Nat Fyfe has started his season in the kind of form that got him the Brownlow a few years ago, after an indifferent 2017 campaign. He took the three Brownlow votes the last time these two sides met, recording 33 disposals in Freo's big win last year. The Dogs must stop him this time around. The media have hyped up Fyfe vs Bontempelli for a fair portion of the week – Will we get it?
David Mundy
Whilst Fyfe got the three Brownlow votes last year in the corresponding meeting of the two sides, David Mundy got the two votes, but he was equally as damaging, kicking two crucial goals along with 30 disposals, seven marks and seven tackles. Despite in the twilight of his career nowadays, Mundy is still a very critical component as a half-forward and has started 2018 off quite nicely, including a 32-disposal, eight clearance effort against GWS last weekend. It'll be interesting to see who gets the match-up on him to start things off.
Final Verdict
As vastly improved as the Western Bulldogs have been in the past fortnight, I am struggling to go with them here. In the two games that Fremantle have played up at Optus Stadium this year, they have been rather brilliant with how they move the footy and how they play to Ross Lyon's structures. Their two top-five selections from last year – Brayshaw and Cerra – have been very good so far, whilst Bailey Banfield has been a good find as a tagger. It won't shock me if he goes on in-form midfielder Jack Macrae early.
History plays a strong factor in this. The Bulldogs have shown throughout the past number of years, that they don't adapt well over in Perth, and with the Dockers looking relatively good over the past number of weeks, I think they're going to get the job done at home in what I expect to be a scrappy contest – both sides are 13th and 14th in scoring respectively. However, with their pressure around the contest lately, I think the Dogs will make them earn this win.
If they improve on their accuracy and continue to improve on their forward-line structures, then anything is certainly possible. I am very excited to see Tom Boyd potentially match-up on former premiership team mate Joel Hamling, who has been very good since he departed. Tim English and Aaron Sandilands will be a very interesting battle, and seeing whether or not the forwards can contain running defenders Luke Ryan and Nathan Wilson is going to be a fascinating development as well.
Fremantle By 15 Points
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