Wounded Bulls
After an 0-2 start to the season, it’s been a tough week at Dockers HQ, but as Luke Beveridge said in his press conference earlier this week, that’s all the more reason to be wary of the men in purple.
A chance to right the ship should see the Dockers come out with blood in their nostrils on Saturday night and the Dogs will need to be ready for a fierce contest.
Despite their record, there’s no shortage of top-end talent at Ross Lyon’s disposal (Nat Fyfe anyone?), something Beveridge acknowledged on Tuesday.
“When you look at their team on paper they look like a very strong side that’s capable of toppling nearly anyone,” he said.
And that’s all you need to know about how the Bulldogs will be treating this one.
Mt. Sandilands
If you didn’t already know this you could probably of guessed… that’s right, the Dockers lead the League in hit outs.
They’ve got their hand on it 111 times so far, and 84 of those times it’s come off of Aaron Sandilands’ oversized palms. You have to run your finger down to 11th place before you find the Bulldogs.
What follows from that is the all-important first use of the footy, and the Dockers are again at the top of the tree for clearances and fifth for centre clearances. The Dogs are in 18th place on both counts.
The current state of the ladder might suggest this isn’t an issue, but when you play in Perth you must keep the crowd quiet, and allowing any WA side to get off to a fast start is never wise.
Grindhouse
If you're hoping for an Old West style shootout on Saturday night you may be better off switching over to Fox Footy (if you're in Victoria) to watch the Showdown at Adelaide Oval.
The Dockers, at 64.5 points per game, are currently the lowest scoring team in the competition, so saving a Cam McCarthy breakout game, you won't be seeing a repeat of the high scores kicked around the League in the early rounds.
That said, the Dogs are averaging 105 points a game this season, cracking the 100 points mark twice already this season, something that only happened seven times last year, including finals, and the Dockers are conceding 130.
On top of that, the 2017 Bulldogs are averaging 115.7 points per 50 minutes in the forward half this season according to Champion Data, compared to just 82.5 last season. These are all good things.
But Ross Lyon teams are historically hard and tough outfits, so expect this one to be a grinding contest.
The Wild Wild West
The Bulldogs’ Elimination Final win over the Eagles in week one of last season’s finals series is likely fresh in the minds of Dogs fans – it was the win that broke the curse of the old Subiaco.
Or did it. The Dogs have lost their last three clashes with Freo in Perth – including in round 23 last year – and you have to go back to round one, 2009 to find the last time the song was sung against the Dockers.
The Dogs saluted by 63-points that day on the back of five goals form Mitch Hahn, and 33 touches each from Lindsay Gilbee and Matthew Keith Boyd.
Speaking of Keith – doesn’t he love the grand expanses of this ground? He’s averaged an impressive 37 touches in his last four games against the Dockers in WA , including a then career-high of 45 in 2011.
Treat yourself to some Keith on Saturday night.
