At A Glance
Saturday 1st July 2023, 11:45am WST
Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
Western Bulldogs 7th (8W,6L,102.9%) vs Fremantle Dockers 11th (7W,7L,97.3%)
Head to Head: Bulldogs 19 wins, Dockers 18 wins, 0 draws (including 1 Final)
Too Long Did Read
So the first meeting of these teams this year did not go to plan for us, unless the plan was just to boo Rory Lobb and cheer all his crap moments.
Actually that really did feel like that's what the plan was..
In Rory Lobb's defence he actually played some good footy for us, it's just a shame he seems like a completely terrible bloke.
I knew I had a bad feeling about him when he basically admitted he picked Fremantle over West Coast because we could pay him more.
The Positive View
Anyways, back to the game, in our favour this time round is;
1) The Bulldogs are coming off the bye, and hopefully they're as bad as we were after their mid season 'refresher'.
2) Liam Jones and Tim O'Brien are injured and we've not had any bad experiences against teams with lots of injuries.
3) Darcy is back and the unicorn is free to roam again.
Key Matchups
Too Long Didn't Read
Both teams have had mixed form with the round 6 meeting the key differentiator in terms of ladder position.
Bulldogs midfield may be too strong at home on a fast deck.
Western Bulldogs by 15 points
Saturday 1st July 2023, 11:45am WST
Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
Western Bulldogs 7th (8W,6L,102.9%) vs Fremantle Dockers 11th (7W,7L,97.3%)
Head to Head: Bulldogs 19 wins, Dockers 18 wins, 0 draws (including 1 Final)
Too Long Did Read
So the first meeting of these teams this year did not go to plan for us, unless the plan was just to boo Rory Lobb and cheer all his crap moments.
Actually that really did feel like that's what the plan was..
In Rory Lobb's defence he actually played some good footy for us, it's just a shame he seems like a completely terrible bloke.
I knew I had a bad feeling about him when he basically admitted he picked Fremantle over West Coast because we could pay him more.
The Positive View
Anyways, back to the game, in our favour this time round is;
1) The Bulldogs are coming off the bye, and hopefully they're as bad as we were after their mid season 'refresher'.
In fact every media outlet there is jumping on the trend so what could go wrong?
Please note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
2) Liam Jones and Tim O'Brien are injured and we've not had any bad experiences against teams with lots of injuries.
Less importantly Ed Richards and Jason Johanissen are also unavailable, while unfortunately Bailey Williams is even though I had this thought in my head he was also out which was not to be.
3) Darcy is back and the unicorn is free to roam again.
I mean it didn't help last time, but I like to think they've got better chemistry now.
Key Matchups
- Naughton vs Anyone - Beveridge is insistent Naughton will be played forward and he's not one known for changing his mind lightly or based on external opinions. Naughton can be a game changer, but it seems more likely Gardner or Bruce will be brought into defence (or could they pull a left field move and bring Sam Darcy straight in?) leaving Ryan or Cox to take Naughton.
- English vs Darcy/Jackson - English is the frontrunner for All Australian ruckman, mainly for his work around the ground. Phillips bothered us a bit against Essendon, particularly early so will be important to minimise his influence. On the flip side Jackson has to try and maximise the limited height in the Bulldogs backline to his advantage
- The Midfield - bit of a copout, but both the Bont and Treloar carved us up in round 6 and are generally both in fine form so we'll need to break even in that space to be in the game. Hopefully our ball movement is greatly improved and we can see some more efficiency going back the other way.
Too Long Didn't Read
Both teams have had mixed form with the round 6 meeting the key differentiator in terms of ladder position.
Bulldogs midfield may be too strong at home on a fast deck.
Western Bulldogs by 15 points
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