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The Western Bulldogs have hit back at their critics with a 21-point win on Sunday.
Final score
Western Bulldogs 14.20 (104)
Essendon 12.11 (83)
The Western Bulldogs and the Essendon Bombers do battle at Etihad Stadium in a home game for Dogs. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 3:20pm (AEST).
While the Bulldogs were improved last week against West Coast, that wasn’t saying much after their effort, or lack of it, in Round 1 against the Giants.
The have injuries, out of form players and a huge gap to make up if they dare even dream of playing finals football in 2018.
Essendon started well against Adelaide in week one yet did have chances against Fremantle last week before going down by sixteen points.
They will look to move to two wins and one loss today which would be an acceptable start for a Club who are still a little bit of an unknown in terms of where they are in the rebuild that John Worsfold has overseen.
Essendon will play their attacking, running game and back their style while the Bulldogs must do one simple thing. That being; effort.
They must show their fans that there are still traces of the manic pressure and defence they produced in 2016 and that despite their poor form, they will improve week by week.
The match will see Jake Stringer line up against the club he won a premiership with in 2016 for the first time since being dramatically traded to Essendon at the end of last year.
Stringer is yet to kick a goal for his new club, though that could in part be put down to the fact he has been trialed as a midfielder for large periods of both games so far.
Prediction
Turning around poor performances takes time and I cannot see the Dogs getting it right in one short week. The Bombers are a dangerous team if the fornt third pressure isn’t there and that spells problems for the Bulldogs today.
Western Bulldogs 62, Essendon 94
Catch all the action on The Roar live coverage from 3:20pm (AEST).