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This afternoon the Western Bulldogs host the Melbourne Demons at Etihad Stadium, with both teams seeking a fifth win for the year. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 1:10 pm AEST.
The Bulldogs have been in reasonable form over the last fortnight, with a win over Collingwood in Round 13 and a competitive first half of football on the road against Port Adelaide before getting blown away.
They’re hardly setting the world on fire, but they will enter the game with confidence they have been playing some of their best footy in recent weeks.
The same goes for Melbourne, who had a stirring one-point win against Essendon in Round 13 and played some good patches of footy against North Melbourne last week, though they still fell short by 41 points. You have to go quite a ways back in the ledger to find a week where Melbourne were seriously uncompetitive, which is something they’ll be proud of.
The Bulldogs have the wood over Melbourne at the moment, having earlier this year in Round 8 defeated the Demons at the MCG, albeit only by 16 points.
These two have played some competitive games in recent years, with their last four matches all decided by a margin of less than four goals. Melbourne haven’t beaten the Bulldogs away from the MCG since Round 19 2007, however that’s only the fourth most recent game these two sides have played away from the MCG.
Both sides have made some big changes. The Bulldogs have lost Daniel Giansiracusa to suspension, along with Jordan Roughead, Jarrad Grant and Ryan Griffen to a mixture of illness or injury. As replacements they’ve brought in Jake Stringer and Lachie Hunter, and will be debuting Sam Darley (who previously played 13 games for Greater Western Sydney) and Mitch Honeychurch (pick 60 in last year’s draft).
The Demons have lost Jordie McKenzie to suspension, and Tom McDonald and Daniel Cross will miss with injury, while Aidan Riley has been omitted. Dean Terlich, Daniel Nicholson and Max Gawn have been recalled, while Dom Barry will make his debut for the club.
Chris Dawes was one of Melbourne’s best last weekend, kicking three goals in a losing side against North Melbourne. Dawes was very nearly a Bulldog, only narrowly deciding to join Melbourne when he decided it was time to leave Collingwood at the end of 2012. With both teams seriously light on quality key position players, he could be a major factor on how this contest plays out.
Both sides are keen to get a bit of respectability, with both seeing this is a very winnable game – who will make it count?
Prediction
Leadership is going to be an important factor for the Bulldogs this week with Ryan Griffen and Daniel Giansiracusa both missing this clash, and their side predominantly filled with younger players.
They have the better talent in their 22, however, so I’m tipping them to get the job done so long as they can keep a level head.
Western Bulldogs by 12 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 1:10 pm AEST.