Expert
The Fremantle Dockers will look to continue their solid run of form and move closer to the top eight when they return home for a clash against the struggling Brisbane Lions. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4:40pm (AEST).
Despite sitting well and truly in the bottom half of the table, Fremantle have been strong in Perth this year, losing just two of six at Optus Stadium – and one of those was to the West Coast Eagles.
After winning just four of their first nine games, the Dockers have finally run into some form, with their season slowly starting to turn after a pair of victories.
While the second of those was to be expected in a 57-point mauling of the Carlton Blues away from home, the first wasn’t necessarily, as they came away with a tough home upset win over the Adelaide Crows.
Their only loss to an out of Perth team at home was against the North Melbourne Kangaroos some weeks ago, and it just goes to show it’s hard to think anything else might happen out west.
Nat Fyfe is undoubtedly the key man for the Dockers and if they are to continue their push up the table – where they now sit 13th – it’s going to come on the back of his work.
While finals hopes are still alive for the Dockers, they were over weeks ago for the Lions, who have won just one of 13 games this season.
It’s a dismal record, and one that leaves them only ahead of Carlton at the bottom of the table.
While they haven’t copped quite as much as Carlton, they have suffered some thumping losses since their shock victory over the Hawthorn Hawks a month ago. The worst of those came in the form of a 54-point beatdown at the hands of the ‘Roos.
There is little positivity in sight for the Lions who play Adelaide, Hawthorn, Geelong and North Melbourne again in the coming weeks, with all of those games having the potential to get ugly.
On paper, this may be one of their better chances if they can control Fyfe, but that’s a big if before you even consider that it’s out west.
Prediction
Both of the Western Australian sides are hard to beat at home, and it certainly won’t be a battling Lions outfit causing the upset at the new stadium.
Dockers by 24.
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