MATCH DETAILS
Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide at TIO Stadium, Saturday June 28 at 7.10 pm
Fine and sunny, Min 19, Max 31
Western Bulldogs 20.13 (133) def Port Adelaide 17.11 (113), round 14, 2007, at Telstra Dome
The Dogs made it four in a row with their gritty win over the determined Magpies at Telstra Dome last Sunday. Daniel Cross and Lindsay Gilbee were both key contributors with 29 possessions while Mitch Hahn booted three goals when the heat was on.
Port dropped its fifth game in six outings last Saturday when Richmond successfully raided AAMI Stadium prompting coach Mark Williams to declare that finals were out of the equation for his side this year. Daniel Motlop continued his good run of form with six goals.
The big news out of Whitten Oval this week was the setback suffered by veteran playmaker Scott West as he attempts to shake off a knee injury. Hopes of a return in the week after the bye have been dashed with round 17 or 18 now more likely. Tom Williams picked up a shoulder injury in the win over Collingwood and will miss one week, while Shaun Higgins should make his long-awaited return from an ankle injury after the break. Tim Callan (hamstring) is two weeks away and Wayde Skipper (medial ligament) is a month from resuming.
Steven Salopek (Achilles) and Peter Burgoyne (hamstring) were the major additions to the injury list out of last week’s loss to Richmond with Salopek out for three to four weeks and Burgoyne out for a fortnight. Paul Stewart is available after missing two weeks with neck soreness, but Toby Thurstans (medial ligament) is still two to three weeks away.
The Bulldogs have won two of the last three games against the Power, but lost eight on the trot prior to that.
Dale Morris v Daniel Motlop
The mercurial forward looms as the key to the Power’s fortunes and Morris handles the big jobs well. Motlop kicked six goals from just eight possessions against Richmond so he doesn’t need many opportunities to hurt you on the scoreboard.
Adam Cooney v Kane Cornes
Cooney gathered 27 possessions against the Pies and his status as the Dogs’ prime mover through the middle should attract the attention of Kane Cornes. The Power tagger will have his hands full, however, with Cooney in devastating touch.
Mitch Hahn v Troy Chaplin
Hahn was an important player against the Pies last week with his hard work and three goals when the game was in the balance. Chaplin is a key figure for the Power and has averaged 16 possessions a match this year.
"Sometimes when you publicly say the season's over, it can go one or two ways.
"Players can accept that fate, or they can think the pressure's off and go out and play inspired footy.
"That's what we've got to be wary of. We certainly won't be taking Port any lighter because they believe they can't make the finals, because they've still got a talented group.
"We've played Port in Darwin twice and they've beaten us twice, so they'll have some confidence with that, but having said that, it's like a second home ground to us.
"We've played reasonably well there, and we've only had the one bad performance up there in my time at the club.
"I think we can head into the game with a bit of confidence." – Rodney Eade, senior coach
“We’ve got a lot of young boys playing in the SANFL who are playing real good footy. Damon White and Adam Thomson are two that are playing real good footy, so it will be good for the team.
“Fabs [Fabian Deluca] is another one in line with Dean Brogan and Brendon Lade. Hopefully, he can come in and play real well.
“The older blokes at the club probably feel threatened because we’ve got a few younger blokes coming in, which is going to make it a bit more exciting this week.
“And last time we did it [brought in young players] against the Bulldogs up there we won.” – Daniel Motlop, Port player.