Just seven weeks on from their last battle, the Western Bulldogs won’t make any major changes for their clash with St Kilda on Saturday night.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said on Friday that despite the Saints’ comeback victory in round six, he wouldn’t alter his plans.
“We’ll go in the same way we have all year… It doesn’t really change just because of what happened last time.
“Week to week as a coach whether it’s the fact that the Saints came back last time or whoever you’re playing you’re always mindful that there’s going to be a momentum shift and that’s our job to stay on top of it.”
The Bulldogs side includes eight players that didn’t play in round six, with Dale Morris, Matthew Boyd, Mitch Wallis, Jarrad Grant, Will Minson, Joel Hamling, Toby McLean and Bailey Dale the additions since that match.
The Saints will also field a relatively different line up, with five names coming into their side since round six, and Beveridge expects the match to reflect that fact.
“We’ve actually got a third of our team that’s different to last time as well, and the Saints have got four or five different players so that probably counts for something as far as the performance goes.
“We’ve tried to move on and week to week we’re all about continuous improvement and there’s no doubt that was a different day and the Saints were very good so we need to refocus this week.”
Beveridge also welcomed the return of veteran defender Morris, who returns for his first senior game since round three.
Morris is expected to provide assistance to Hamling and Fletcher Roberts, with the inexperienced pair to do battle with Saints’ power forwards Nick Riewoldt and Josh Bruce.
“He allows our defence to do different things at times.
“He’s a great leader, he’s strong, his contest is as good as anyone’s in the competition and he’s just one of those teammates that helps our players walk taller.
“He actually played forward in the VFL last week and played really well, so he might even have a stint up forward.”