1. There’s no place like home
While we don’t expect that any players will be wearing ruby red slippers out onto Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, most will be happy to be back under the roof in familiar surroundings.
As vice-captain Marcus Bontempelli said on the Freedom in a Cage podcast, the Dogs’ boys love playing at home, and most would agree that the they are at their best when the footy is zipping around the Docklands venue.
And yet, for a side not known for travelling well the Eagles play the Dogs pretty well there, having won six of the ten meetings, although they did lose three of five last season.
2. Gaff-er tape
Most of the Eagle-talk this week has been around the return of Nic Naitanui, and fair enough, he was reasonably good in his first outing in over a year. But the one Eagle Dogs fans might want to keep an eye on is Andrew Gaff.
The left-footed Victorian has torn the Dogs to shreds over the past three meetings, averaging 38 touches, dating back to the 2016 Elimination Final. You can add to that a couple of goals, some Brownlow votes, and a ridiculous 10-inside 50s back in Round 15 last year.
So, yep, Nic Nat is great fun to watch, but Gaff is the man we’ll have to slow down if we’re going to win.
3. Press red for Ed
There were a few nervous boys backstage at the 2017 NAB AFL Draft in Sydney back in November, but not many looked as uncomfortable with the attention than that of the fresh-faced Ed Richards.
Yet, whatever uneasiness he was feeling on draft night does not translate on-field as Richards looked as confident and assured on the track over the summer as you can be, and has earned his debut this weekend.
A lot’s been spoken of his famous bloodlines and now the young man gets the chance to make his own name.
Go well, Ed.
4. 287 Days
That’s how long it’s been since we last saw Lin Jong at Etihad Stadium… and the Club has documented every step of his journey in a soon to be released feature, premiering exclusively on westernbulldogs.com.au in coming weeks.
He’s had a bit of a wretched run with injury in his still young career, so here’s hoping this is now the time where he can finally get off the runway and show everyone how good a player well all know he can be.
Welcome back, mate.
