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Great win at the end of the day for the Dockers who break a run of six straight losses to the Hawks and get some small measure of revenge for last year’s grand final.
More firepower is really what the Dockers campaign needed and they have found it. Matthew Pavlich played the best game he has played in two years, while the return of Michael Walters was a huge success.
The Dockers were being almost written off for the flag in recent weeks but they are now a serious chance for it. They’ve got a long way to go but they have shown they can match it with the best of them.
Devastating loss for the Hawks. They have not just lost the game, but they have dropped form first to third and now are in danger of having to travel for their preliminary final, which could be a big disadvantage.
All in all, a thriller of a game that just makes the final two weeks of the Home & Away season all the more interesting.
FINAL SCORE:
FREMANTLE 17.8.110
HAWTHORN 13.13.91
The right to host a home final is potentially on the line when the Fremantle Dockers host the Hawthorn Hawks at Patersons Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4:40pm (AEST).
The Hawks currently sit on top of the ladder, but it is a tight squeeze, with three teams on 15 wins for the season.
Only a competition-high percentage of 142 is keeping the Hawks in number one position.
A win for the Hawks will go a long way to locking up top spot, or at least a top-two finish, and a guaranteed final at home in week one of the finals. Given they might otherwise be forced to travel to Sydney or Perth, that would be a huge advantage.
The Dockers are in fourth, two wins behind that pack of three, and with little hope of making up the distance and earning a home final. However, they are only one win ahead of Port Adelaide in fifth, a team they face in the final round of the season.
If the Dockers drop this game to the Hawks, they could very well find themselves heading into the final round needing a win against the Power to secure a top-four spot.
The Hawks are the dominant team of these two at the moment. They have won the last six straight over the Dockers, including last year’s grand final. Fremantle haven’t had a win over Hawthorn since the 2010 elimination final, though this is only second time they’ve played them in Perth since then.
To add insult to injury, Fremantle’s win record against Hawthorn is currently the worst between any two non-expansion teams in the AFL. The Dockers have won just 7 of 22 games, or 24 per cent, of their matches against Hawthorn.
Both teams enter the match in good form. The Hawks had a routine smashing of Melbourne last week, and have won their last four on the trot.
The Dockers lost in dramatic fashion to Geelong last week, but will gain some confidence from the fact they manage to almost snatch the win after conceding a big lead early in the game.
On paper this looks like the game of the round – a clash between two top-four sides, with big stakes on the line. But contests between these two have been a bit one-sided lately. The Hawks won comfortably by 58 points last time they met, in Round 3 this year. Here’s hoping this one is a bit more competitive.
Prediction
Hawthorn have been the better team of these two for the year however, so I’ll give them the nod.
Hawthorn by 12 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4:40 PM (AEST).