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The Hawthorn Hawks and Western Bulldogs meet at Etihad in the final round of the home-and-away season, in a game with little meaning for one team in terms of ladder position, yet huge implications for the other. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:40pm (AEST).
Four teams sit on 11 wins and the Western Bulldogs possess the lowest percentage of the quartet.
The Dogs will be relying on losses from those sitting above them on the ladder and require a series of cards to fall their way if they are to see action in September.
To their advantage, they get first crack at the weekend and with a solid win, will move into the eight – if only temporarily – piling pressure on Melbourne, West Coast, Essendon and St Kilda as the rest of the games unfold.
It is unlikely they will improve their percentage enough to topple three of the four above them, St Kilda being the only team they have a realistic possibility of climbing over.
For Hawthorn, the unfamiliar role of the spoiler becomes the real attraction in this match, as they say goodbye to Luke Hodge. There will be significant emotion in this game, farewelling their club legend after 16 years of service and 306 games. It will be slightly different for Bob Murphy, not knowing if there’s one last hurrah in the finals awaiting.
Missing out on September action will not please the Hawthorn players or the coach, yet a slow start to the season made that mountain too difficult to overcome. Still, the second half of their season has been pleasing and Hawthorn have found positives moving into the off-season.
Prediction
Hawthorn’s ball control and possession game, combined with the Bulldogs’ inability to put teams, should see this clash become a grind.
At the end of the slugfest, the Hawks will reign and see out their legend in a fitting way, shattering the dreams of Bulldogs fans.
Hawthorn by 8 points.
Catch all the action on The Roar live from 7:40pm (AEST).