2015 AFL season: Round 9 preview

The ultimate grudge match of the season and a major milestone for one of the AFL’s great ironmen which will be played out during the Dreamtime at the G.

The match between the Western Bulldogs and GWS Giants, which will feature Ryan Griffen against the club he walked out on last October for the first time, could threaten to overshadow the annual match between Richmond and Essendon at the MCG on Saturday night.

Elsewhere, the Sydney Swans will be out to heap more misery on the beleaguered Carlton Football Club, which this week sacked its coach Mick Malthouse following a run-in with officials over the timing of their decision to review his position at the club.

Sydney Swans versus Carlton
While the Sydney Swans have been tracking very well this season, sitting third on the ladder with a 6-2 record, the same cannot be said for the bottom-placed Carlton.

The Blues had announced that they would review his position during the club’s Round 11 bye, in the wake of their poor start to the season which has seen them win just once in the opening eight rounds.

However, the relationship between Malthouse and the Carlton board suddenly became untenable after the former gave an interview on radio criticising the latter over their decision to give him just two weeks to save his job.

Just like the Mark Neeld saga at Melbourne two years ago, the current crisis at Carlton is threatening to drag the AFL down and it reached boiling point on Tuesday afternoon with the dismissal of Malthouse.

Meanwhile, all is going well at the Sydney Swans and their win over Hawthorn came despite Lance Franklin enduring his first scoreless match since making his AFL debut for Hawthorn, ironically against the Swans, way back in 2005.

The win over the Hawks follows on from impressive victories against Melbourne and the Geelong Cats, and the clash against Carlton will be the first of three winnable matches for John Longmire’s men leading into their Round 12 bye.

Thus, the Swans couldn’t be in such a better position to challenge for the 2015 flag and a win over the struggling Blues, who will be coached by John Barker in the interim term, will only stake their claims.

Prediction: Sydney Swans by 75 points.

Hawthorn versus Gold Coast Suns
Win big, lose small. That’s been the theme for the Hawthorn Football Club this season as they struggle to get form together, having not yet won consecutive matches this season.

This inconsistent form continued when they coughed up a two-goal advantage in the final quarter to lose to the Sydney Swans by just four points last Saturday night.

This has left the dual defending premiers at four wins and four losses, and in somewhat of a precarious position entering the middle third of the season.

But they will get no better chance than to bounce back when they host the struggling Gold Coast Suns, whose season turned more uglier after a 69-point loss to Collingwood at home, in Launceston this Saturday afternoon.

The Suns, whose fortunes have not been helped by a horror injury toll, crashed to their seventh loss of the season last week against the Pies but only Carlton’s poorer percentage is keeping them off the foot of the ladder.

And with this match being the first of three consecutive matches against genuine premiership contenders in the Hawks, the Sydney Swans and Fremantle, things could get worse before the Suns get to rest their battered bodies in Round 12.

Prediction: Hawthorn by 50 points.

Melbourne versus Port Adelaide
After reaching the preliminary final last year, and getting to within a kick of eventual premiers Hawthorn, Port Adelaide appear to be struggling under the weight of expectations in 2015.

Their poor start to the season continued last Sunday when it lost to Richmond by 33 points at the Adelaide Oval, with poor kicking again not helping their cause.

This Saturday’s clash against improving Melbourne could be the last chance they have of resurrecting their season, or even staking their claim for a top-four position which many expected them to achieve this season.

Though they should start favourites, they will be wary of the form showed by Melbourne in its 39 point win over the Western Bulldogs last start, and their two narrow losses to the Power last season.

Having lost their last three matches against quality opposition in the Dockers, Swans and Hawks, Paul Roos’ men took a few days’ rest and the move paid dividends as they banked their third win for the season last week.

However, with both teams coming off a six-day break, and with this match to be played in Alice Springs, it will remain to be seen which team acclimatises better to the expected warm conditions.

Prediction: Port Adelaide by 24 points.

Western Bulldogs versus GWS Giants
The ultimate grudge match of the season is here and Western Bulldogs fans will be out to jeer, heckle and boo their former captain, Ryan Griffen, all they like when the Bulldogs and GWS clash under the roof at Etihad Stadium this Saturday night.

Last October, Griffen dropped a huge bombshell when he announced that he wanted to be traded to the Giants, following reports of a communication rift between him and then-coach Brendan McCartney.

It came in the wake of yet another disappointing season for the Western Bulldogs which ended with a six-point loss to the AFL’s youngest club, with Devon Smith kicking the match winning goal for the Giants after Jake Stringer dropped an uncontested mark with 30 seconds remaining.

Meanwhile, 2013 number one draft pick Tom Boyd requested to be traded the other way after struggling to break into the improving GWS side which would win six matches last year and has already equalled that tally within the first eight rounds of this season.

The chain of events late last year has led to this match being dubbed the “Boyd-Griffen Cup”, and marked another chapter in the simmering rivalry between the two clubs which started with Callan Ward leaving the Whitten Oval at the end of 2011 to link up with the AFL’s newest franchise.

It’s fair to say that in the same sense as the rivalries between Essendon and Hawthorn, and that of Carlton and Collingwood, among many others, fans of both the GWS Giants and Western Bulldogs don’t like to share any love between them.

Having already equalled their best-ever season tally of six wins from last year, the Giants will get the chance to win a record-breaking seventh match for the year and ensure that Ryan Griffen enjoys the last laugh on the club he walked out on with a win over the Western Bulldogs this Saturday night.

Prediction: GWS Giants by 32 points.

Richmond versus Essendon
Forget the fact that it’s the annual Dreamtime at the G, one man will take centre stage when Richmond and Essendon clash at the MCG on Saturday night.

Essendon fullback Dustin Fletcher, who turned 40 earlier this month, will bring up his 400th AFL game and thus join Michael Tuck and Kevin Bartlett as the only two men who have managed to last at least this far into their careers.

There was talk that the man himself would be rested so that his milestone could be commemorated in a home game against the Geelong Cats in Round 10, however, given the enormity of this weekend’s match against Richmond, coach James Hird remained adamant that he would play this Saturday night.

Both Richmond and Essendon enter this match in good form, the Tigers having defeated Collingwood and Port Adelaide in the past fortnight while the Bombers are coming off an impressive 58-point win over the Brisbane Lions at home.

But can the Bombers, who haven’t lost the annual Dreamtime at the G fixture since 2011, celebrate Dustin Fletcher’s 400th AFL game with a win, or will the Tigers, like they did in Hird and Sheedy’s farewell match way back in 2007, come out and spoil the celebrations?

Prediction: Essendon by 30 points.

Adelaide Crows versus Fremantle
The Fremantle Dockers will hope to keep alive its undefeated start to the season when they head to the Adelaide Oval to face an Adelaide Crows side desperate to bounce back after being outrun by the GWS Giants in Sydney last week.

While the Crows were made to play catch-up football for most of their match last week, the Dockers continued to show why they are the new premiership favourites, thrashing North Melbourne by 73 points at home.

And while they will be expected to win their ninth straight match, it won’t come easy – even though they have won their last three against the Crows, the most recent of which was a 40-point win at home in Round 12 last year – they did lose on their previous trip to the Oval against Port Adelaide four rounds earlier.

While Phil Walsh’s men should present a formidable challenge for Ross Lyon’s men, the class of the ladder leaders should tell the difference as they look to skip at least two games clear of the chasing pack by the end of the round.

Prediction: Fremantle by 22 points.

Brisbane Lions versus St Kilda
After notching up two victories to move off the bottom of the ladder, the Brisbane Lions were sent crashing back down to earth following a 58-point loss to Essendon at Etihad Stadium last week.

It was a disappointing result given the Lions appeared to be gaining some momentum thanks to a nine-point win over bottom-placed Carlton and an impressive 37-point win over finals pretenders Port Adelaide at the Gabba.

However, Justin Leppitsch’s men will be expected to bounce back when they welcome 15th-placed St Kilda to the Gabba this Sunday.

The Saints have endured a disappointing fortnight since coming from 55 points down to defeat the Western Bulldogs in Round 6, going down to the Adelaide Crows and West Coast Eagles by 46 and 53 points respectively.

Captain Nick Riewoldt may be considered for selection after missing the match against the Eagles due to concussion, and the Saints will badly need him as they try to avoid a second straight wooden spoon.

In fact, this match will indirectly mark a decade since Riewoldt was infamously targeted by several Lions defenders, in particular Jamie Charman and Chris Scott, in a spiteful 2005 season opener.

It now remains to be seen which side will bounce back from their recent disappointments.

Prediction: Brisbane Lions by 15 points.

Collingwood versus North Melbourne
Following two relatively disappointing losses to the Geelong Cats and Richmond, Collingwood bounced back in devastating fashion, commemorating Scott Pendlebury’s 200th AFL game with a 69-point thrashing of the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast last week.

That has seen the move up to fifth on the ladder, and at present they are the best-performed Victorian club so far this season, with the four teams above them on the ladder all coming from either Western Australia or New South Wales.

The Pies will be expected to continue their good start to the season against the notoriously inconsistent North Melbourne, who are coming off a heavy 73-point loss to ladder leaders Fremantle in Perth.

To say the least, despite the acquisitions of Jarrad Waite and Shaun Higgins during the off-season, the Roos have failed to meet pre-season expectations after playing off in the preliminary final last year.

Brad Scott’s men sit 12th on the ladder with four wins and four losses but with a percentage of 90.4per cent. Thus, if they are to revive their hopes of achieving a top-four finish, they need to start finding form and hopefully it starts with them defeating Collingwood in the first of only two MCG matches for the Roos this regular season.

However, the Pies should prove too strong as they look to lead the way for the Victorian clubs, in the face of the dominance of the ladder by the two Western Australia and two New South Wales clubs.

Prediction: Collingwood by 25 points.

West Coast Eagles versus Geelong Cats
Despite thrashing Carlton by 77 points last week, the Geelong Cats still remain outside the top eight and will face a tough challenge if they are to break into it, as they face the red-hot West Coast Eagles at Domain Stadium this Sunday.

The Cats’ poor start to the season, in which it dropped three of their opening four matches for the first time since 2004, has led to many believing that their aura of domaince could be about to come to an end sooner rather than later.

However, the club has bounced back to win three of their last four matches, and even though they have won their last two against the Eagles by sizeable margins, will have to be at their best against Adam Simpson’s second-placed men.

The Eagles’ terrific start to the season continued last Saturday when it defeated St Kilda by 53 points under the roof of Etihad Stadium, but the side will be without Elliot Yeo after he copped a one-match suspension for striking.

Still, his absence isn’t expected to affect the Eagles’ favouritism for their only meeting against the Cats this season, although they have lost the last two by huge margins including by 66 points the last time they played in Perth.

Prediction: West Coast Eagles by 20 points.