Roar Guru
The final game of Round 6 takes us to Patersons Stadium, as West Coast Eagles take on the Western Bulldogs. We’ll have live scores and commentary from 4.40pm AEST.
It hasn’t been a season that’s gone according to plan for either club, but for both clubs here is an important chance to pick up four competition points to get the season back on track.
The Eagles, after finals appearances in the last two seasons, had hopes of going further this year and becoming premiership contenders.
But just one win has come from their first five games, and of major concern is that they’ve struggled to complete four quarters.
It was a trend that first became apparent in the season opener, when the Eagles blew an early lead to go down to the Dockers.
But the biggest example of this was last weekend, when the Eagles had Port Adelaide on the ropes at half time; but went missing in action in the second half to lose a game that had looked safely theirs all day.
The Eagles have struggled with injuries this season, missing key personnel.
But this week they welcome back one of their biggest names. Nic Naitanui returns from injury, bolstering their ruck stocks and giving them more options around the ground.
Naitanui’s inclusion also relieves some of the pressure on Dean Cox, who has shouldered plenty of responsibility this season.
Sharrod Wellingham, after crossing over from Collingwood, makes his first appearance for the Eagles in this game.
The Bulldogs have also struggled this year, and also only have one win to show for their efforts. That win came in the opening round, a big result against the Brisbane Lions.
But against the top teams, the lack of firepower has been all too apparent.
Further weakening the Bulldogs this week is the suspension of Brett Goodes, who had adapted well to AFL footy in the opening rounds of the season.
But the Bulldogs do have some quality in their line-up. Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney is still there, while Matthew Boyd will get plenty of the ball and Luke Dahlhaus continued his rise up the rankings.
In the last meeting of these two clubs, Josh Kennedy kicked ten goals for the Eagles to spearhead a big win.
And with the home ground advantage, and Kennedy again likely to line-up on the forward line for the Eagles; West Coast will go into this game as strong favourites.
But there’s four points up for grabs, and a chance to get the 2013 season back on track. There’ll be no easy possessions in this game, and no team is going to lie down without a fight. The stakes are too high.
Join us here on The Roar as we take you through the evening’s action. The match will commence at 4.40pm AEST (2.40pm local).