Westernbulldogs.com.au looks at four hot topics ahead of Saturday night’s clash with Carlton at Etihad Stadium.
Less glam, more grunt
Both sides play a fast, attacking style of football, and plenty will be dictated by who gets on top in the middle of the ground. The Blues engine room boasts the likes of skipper Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs, Patrick Cripps, and Matthew Kruezer leads a ruck division that averages fifteen more hit-outs than their opponents.
Both sides will be looking to get their hands on the footy early and often, so while it’s trendy to play ‘sexy,’ it’s at the coalface where this one could be won or lost.
Bont v Cripps
When Footscray came up against the powerful Carlton teams of the 1960s, Dogs ruckman, and 1960 Brownlow Medallist, John Schultz regularly came up against Carlton great John ‘Big Nick’ Nicholls.
Schultz stood 191cm tall and the fearsome Nicholls, 189cm. Both men were giants of their craft and both had long and decorated careers.
If you need any further evidence of the evolution of our game over the last 50 years, look no further than midfielders Marcus Bontempelli who stands 192cm and Patrick Cripps, 193cm.
What a treat it’s going to be watching these two go head-to-head over the next decade.
Standing TALL
Carlton have named two debutantes’ this week, one of them being former Giant Lachie Plowman, the 21-year-old arriving at the Blues from GWS at the end of 2015 after being drafted at No. 3 in the 2012 National Draft.
Plowman’s likely opponent is another former Giant – Bulldogs forward Tom Boyd. Both players are in the early stages of their careers and both are looking to establish their credentials at their new clubs.
Don’t expect the former teammates to go easy on each other.
Stringer v Weitering
After just three games, Carlton’s Jacob Weitering has announced himself as a future star of the competition and when asked this week about potentially marking Bulldogs forward Jake Stringer, to his credit, round three’s Rising Star winner said he would relish the opportunity.
It revealed a competiveness that Blues boss Brendan Bolton would have no doubt quietly enjoyed hearing from the young backman.
We love a one-on-one contest and with team defence the order of the day, we perhaps don’t see as much as we like, so here’s hoping we get to see at least a little of this one.
