MATCH DETAILS
Melbourne v Western Bulldogs at the MCG, 2.10pm, Saturday, 29 March
FORECAST
A few showers, Min 12, Max 20
BETTING
Melbourne $3.10, Western Bulldogs $1.33
LAST TIME THEY MET
Melbourne 19.15 (129) d Western Bulldogs 12.15 (87), round 19, 2007, at Telstra Dome
FORM GUIDE
The Bulldogs kicked off their season in fine style with a stirring three-point win over Adelaide at Telstra Dome. It was Brad Johnson's 300th game, and therefore only fitting that the club captain boot the three goals that sealed the result. In the thrilling finish, the lead changed four times in 20 minutes, but with their beloved skipper leading from the front in his milestone match, the Dogs dug in and were a nose ahead at the final siren.
For Melbourne, however, it was a completely different story. It simply couldn't have been scripted worse for the Demons as they were handed a 104-point pasting by a relentless Hawthorn outfit. There were few positives to come from the round one shellacking with debut coach Dean Bailey summing up the players' performance as simply being "uncompetitive for too long".
RANDOM FACTS
- * Melbourne has beaten the Bulldogs in 10 out of their last 13 head-to-head encounters, and has held the upper hand at the MCG since 2001.
- * In Melbourne's defeat of the Bulldogs last year in round 19, Scott West picked up a game-high 37 disposals – his second-highest bag for the season - while in the Dogs' round seven win, Aaron Davey was the star with 29.
- * Melbourne midfielder James McDonald will play his 200th game this week. The two-time best and fairest and one-time All-Australian started his career as a rookie-listed player at the Demons, and commenced his senior career with elevation in 1997.
KEY MATCH UPS
Brian Lake v David Neitz
A classic match-up between the Dogs' fullback and the Demons' skipper – one will be looking to improve on an illness-affected performance last week, while the other will be determined to lead his side out of a hugely disappointing loss.
Brad Johnson v Daniel Bell/Nathan Carroll
Johnson provided the Dogs with the spark last week, and given the Demons' defensive woes against the Hawks, expect this pair to be fired up. Bell is expected to start alongside the skipper with Carroll to shift in as the back-up plan.
Adam Cooney v Nathan Jones
Cooney picked up 31 touches last week and, given Jones was one of a few Melbourne players to run hard all afternoon against the Hawks, the young gun could be given first crack at minding the talented Bulldog.
WHAT THE CLUBS SAY
Western Bulldogs
"They've had a bit of media coverage about their game, so it's going to be tough.
"They're going to come out with all guns blazing in the first quarter to prove a few things wrong, and a few people wrong.
"It's going to be on in that first quarter and it's going to be tough, but I guess it's no different from round one when it was pretty tough for us. We had a pretty good hit-out, they didn't have one, and I guess our focus is just about going hard at them as well." – Brian Lake.
Melbourne
"The thing is, there is always next week and we know as a group we've got the ability and we've just got to keep working at it to get it right.
"We're pretty confident if we can just keep focusing on the process that we'll get it right.
"For a start, each player has to have a hard look at themselves and everyone's got to lift to take the responsibility on themselves." – James McDonald.
