MATCH DETAILS
Fremantle v Western Bulldogs at Subiaco, 2.40pm (AWST)

FORECAST
Fine – Min 7, Max 21

BETTING
Fremantle $2.01, Western Bulldogs $1.80

LAST TIME THEY MET
Western Bulldogs 22.9 (141) d Fremantle 16.19 (115), round 12, 2007, at TIO Stadium

FORM GUIDE
Western Bulldogs
The Bulldogs had perhaps their best win of the season before the break when they went up to Sydney and beat the Swans. Despite being undefeated to that point, the win over the perennial finalists on their own patch confirmed the Bulldogs are genuine contenders.

Fremantle
Fremantle’s season reached a new low when the purple haze coughed up a 51-point lead late in the first half to go down to Melbourne by six points at the MCG in round seven. It capped an unhappy start to the year that saw the Dockers win just one game (against West Coast) in their first seven games.

MEDICAL ROOM
Western Bulldogs
The Dogs are working themselves into a nice position injury-wise, with long-term absentees Tom Williams, Andrejs Everitt and Farren Ray all playing for Williamstown on the weekend. Scott West is still at least a week away with bone stress in his knee, while Shaun Higgins will miss another ten weeks as he continues to recuperate from a serious ankle injury. 

Fremantle
Matthew Carr (ankle), Antoni Grover (quad), Roger Hayden (hamstring) and Luke McPharlin (buttock) are all slated for tests, but Andrew Browne will miss another week with a hamstring injury. Luke Pratt (ankle) and Luke Webster (knee) will both be absent for another month, while Des Headland (eight weeks) and Paul Hasleby (season) both have long-term knee injuries. 

RANDOM FACTS
* Fremantle forward Chris Tarrant is set to join the AFL 200 club, having racked up 186 premiership season games and 13 night series matches.

KEY MATCH UPS
Dale Morris v Matthew Pavlich
Containing the big Pav is always the main concern heading into a match with Fremantle and Morris has done a good job previously. Morris may switch with Brian Lake if Pavlich lingers deep in attack, but his large engine makes him the best option around the ground.

Adam Cooney v Ryan Crowley
Cooney had an unhappy match for the Dream Team at the MCG, but his form leading up to that had been outstanding. Crowley is the go-to tagger in Josh Carr’s absence, and it won’t surprise to see him saunter over to Cooney shortly before the bounce on Sunday.

Ben Hudson v Aaron Sandilands
Sandilands averages more than double Hudson's hit-outs per match, but the Bulldog big man probably has the edge when the ball hits the ground and in open play. Sandilands has improved in this area in recent weeks so this should prove to be an intriguing and pivotal contest.

WHAT THE CLUBS SAY
Western Bulldogs
"We’ve looked at the Freo-Melbourne game, and we looked at Freo-Geelong. Freo were fantastic in the first half and then they dropped off in the second half, but I think after four rounds, everyone was saying Port Power was the best side [in the bottom four] at 0-4.
 
"I think Freo are probably the second best side, because they quite easily could have beaten Geelong, and obviously Melbourne last week, and they pushed Hawthorn and Adelaide to two goals each. Other than probably their Richmond [effort], they could be 4-3." – Bulldogs assistant coach Leon Cameron

Fremantle (on losing after being in winning positions)
“That’s the problem and it’s something we’re addressing regularly. We’re disappointed with that – to get so close and not be able to beat these top sides. We have played three out of the top four sides already and we’ve come within two or three goals. Our form has been OK, just without us winning.

 “Once again we play a top four side in the Western Bulldogs and I’d imagine there won’t be much in the game.” – Fremantle coach Mark Harvey

Western Bulldogs Team List:

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.