The crucial cogs of AFL's Round 8: Which players need to be the difference makers?
There’s no disputing that Cam Guthrie will be important against Melbourne, given Patrick Dangerfield is set to miss due to injury.
The Fremantle Dockers have levelled their ledger at 4-4 with a five-goal win over St Kilda on Saturday night.
Final score
Fremantle Dockers 13.11.89
St Kilda Saints 8.11.59
The Fremantle Dockers will look to get their fourth win of the season when they host the St Kilda Saints in Round 8. Join The Roar for live scores from the match at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, starting from 8:10pm AEST.
The Dockers have had what might be called a very mixed start to the year – they’ve looked like a potentially finals-quality side at times, but more like a bottom four one at others.
Home ground advantage seems to be a major factor in their form. All three of their wins this year – over Essendon, Gold Coast and the Western Bulldogs have all come at home.
On the other hand, of their four losses, three of them have come on the road, and they’ve been pretty uncompetitive in those matches, particular against Port Adelaide in Round 1, and Richmond last week.
The big positive for their season so far has been the form of Nat Fyfe who is putting his name back in the conversation for best player in the game.
As for the St Kilda Saints, it fair to say that their efforts this year have been well below both what their fans and the competition at large expect from them.
They scraped through for a win over the Lions in Round 1, but can boast only a draw and five losses from their six games following that.
The end result is that they’re a bottom four team right now and it’s hard to tell if they’ve got any serious improvement left in them.
Prediction
We probably won’t learn much about either side this week. The Dockers should put in another strong performance at home, the Saints will probably be average again.
Fremantle Dockers by 24.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match between the Fremantle Dockers and the St Kilda Saints in Round 8 of the 2018 AFL Season at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, starting from 8:10pm AEST.