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The Fremantle Dockers will host the Carlton Blues in a Friday night AFL pre-season match-up. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from the match, starting from 8:40pm AEDT.
Well this is it – final dress rehearsals before the Round 1! The Dockers and Blues will be keen to end their pre-season on a high note as they look towards the real stuff.
With just over two weeks to go before the season opener, both teams will be keen to fine-tune the work over the summer.
For players, this is the last chance to impress and stake your claim in the 22. With all that in mind, expect the intensity to lift across the board.
Fremantle were a little patchy last week but for 20 glorious minutes they looked like the Dockers of old.
The ball was trapped in their half of the ground and the pressure applied caused turnovers and goals.
Aaron Sandilands dominated the ruck and the small forwards were a danger all day.
Carlton followed up a match to forget against Melbourne with an even worse display against the Saints at their spiritual home.
St Kilda ran rampant through Carlton’s meek resistance to score at will and eventually winning by 92 points.
It’s early days and these are practice matches, but the Blues would want to do something of substance this weekend for their long-suffering supporters.
Both sides will be as strong as injuries will allow. For the Dockers, the only notable absentees are Zac Clarke, Nick Suban and Harley Bennell.
Last year’s pick No.8 Griffin Logue has been named for his first game and I expect him to impress.
The Blues have their best midfield together for the first time this series and this will surely arrest some of the relentless flow into the opposition forward line.
That said, the side still looks very young and lacking leadership beyond Marc Murphy and Kade Simpson.
It can’t be stressed enough that this is the final chance for players to impress before the Round 1 side is selected.
Performances good and bad will stick in the memory when coaches are looking at that whiteboard.
A big day out for the likes of Cam McCarthy, Shane Kersten or Joel Hamling will go a long way to ensuring their spot, and there are many youngsters on the fringe who could catapult into the conversation.
For the Blues, I look at the ageing warriors like Dale Thomas, Ed Curnow, and Dennis Arnfield. If they bring effort, pressure and lead by example they can show they still have a role to play with this developing list.
Prediction
The Dockers gained some vital momentum last week with their win over Collingwood and will be keen to build on that.
Across the board they should be too strong particularly on the wide open spaces of Domain.
If Carlton doesn’t bring effort and pressure, it could get ugly. But Bolton teams pride themselves on that effort as a minimum so expect them to be better than the last two weeks.
Fremantle by 46
Join The Roar from 8:40pm AEDT Friday night for live scores and commentary.
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