1. House of the Rising Sun(s)

There is a club near Broadbeach,
They call the rising Suns,
It’s been the ruin of many a team,
We hope that we’re not one.

It’s a prime-time debut for the rising Suns, after a breakout 2020 campaign that has included the scalps of the West Coast Eagles, Adelaide, Fremantle and Sydney.
The Suns sit in seventh spot on the ladder, two positions above the Bulldogs, with both teams having four wins to their name.
And they got the points against the Bulldogs in 2019.
Both teams play a brand of football that excites, which sets this up as a Thursday night blockbuster.

2. While we’re on The Animals…

… the Bulldogs will need to maintain their animalistic approach to get the points this week.
That is being hard at the ball and fierce around the contest.
It’s been a trademark of their victories this year, against the GWS Giants, Sydney, North Melbourne and Essendon.
Led by Tom Liberatore, Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae and Bailey Smith, the Bulldogs’ on-ball brigade was superb on the contested front against the Bombers last week after being beaten in that department by Carlton a week prior.
This will be another big test.

3. Speaking of big tests…

… Callum Porter, come on down.
The Bulldogs’ fifth debutant for 2020 passed his first test with flying colours – he got a laugh with his joke at training on Tuesday.
Now, the ‘class clown’ has graduated to the big time.
After three years of development as a Bulldog, Porter gets his chance to run out in red, white and blue at AFL level.
If you couldn’t tell by his debut reveal – his teammates love him.
And if there’s two things Cal brings to the table, they’re energy and effort. He’ll need both against the Suns.

4. Young talent time

You wouldn’t find too many arguments if we acknowledged these two teams as having some of the best young talent in the competition.
Tim English has soared to new heights in 2020 – and Jarrod Witts looms as another big challenge. Bailey Smith has gone to another level. Laitham Vandermeer has quickly become an important player. Cody Weightman’s first showing was something special.
Can they deliver the goods for the Dogs again this week?
The Suns have already had four NAB AFL Rising Star nominees this season… the injured Matt Rowell, Connor Budarick and Noah Anderson among them.
And there’s the dangerous Izak Rankine, who has assembled an impressive highlights reel in just two games.