The Western Bulldogs have made three changes ahead of Friday night’s clash with the West Coast Eagles in Perth, with forward Jack Redpath among the three inclusions, along with Bailey Dale and Lukas Webb.
Redpath made his long-awaited return from a serious knee injury last weekend, kicking six goals and taking nine marks inside 50 in a dominant display at VFL level.
Redpath will be a welcome presence inside the Dogs forward 50 arc in place of the injured Jake Stringer, while Josh Dunkley (shoulder) and skipper Robert Murphy (general soreness) will also miss.
Dale will play his second game for the season after a 25 touch, three goal performance for Footscray last weekend, while Lukas Webb’s consistent play has earned him his first senior guernsey for the season.
Luke Beveridge, speaking to media at Tullamarine ahead of the trip to Perth said Webb deserves his chance.
“He’s been very good [and] deserves a run at it, he said.
“Last week Richmond tagged him in the twos, and he fought through that tag and was really influential at the end of a really good win for our VFL side. He’ll get his opportunity on Friday night.”
The Dogs travel to Perth in fifth spot on the AFL ladder and having won their past two encounters with the fourth-placed Eagles.
West Coast are coming off of an impressive win over the Power in Adelaide last weekend, and Beveridge said the Bulldogs will need to be at their best to come home with the four points.
“They’ve got some great strengths,” he said.
“We know that their first hands clearance players are some of the best in the competition.
“They’ve got an outstanding intercept defence which is built on pressure around the ball and they’ve always had that forward line, so the balance through their lines has always been there.
“We had to be at our very best to beat them last time obviously and we know they’ll be out to rectify that.”
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AFL Round 8 West Coast Eagles v Western Bulldogs
Friday 12 May, 2017, 6:10pm AWST (8:10pm AEST)
Venue: Domain Stadium
| Full back | M Boyd | M Adams | J Johannisen |
| Half back | E Wood | F Roberts | B Williams |
| Centreline | L Hunter | L Dahlhaus | J Macrae |
| Half forward | C Daniel | Z Cordy | C Smith |
| Full forward | L Jong | J Redpath | L Picken |
| Followers | T Boyd | M Bontempelli | T Liberatore |
| Interchange | M Suckling | T McLean | L Webb |
| B Dale | |||
| Emergencies | M Wallis | M Honeychurch | D Hamilton |
IN: J. Redpath, L. Webb, B. Dale
OUT: R. Murphy, J. Stringer, J. Dunkley
