Saturday’s third AFL Round 17 match is between Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast Suns with the game to be played at Cazaly’s Stadium. The opening bounce is set to commence at 4:40 PM local time with away team Gold Coast Suns currently holding favouritism. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast Suns.
Round:Round 17 , July 12, 2014, 4:40 PM
Stadium:Cazaly’s Stadium
Weather:26° Partly cloudy.
Preview:
The Bulldogs play the Suns on Saturday, 4.40PM at Cazaly’s Stadium. While the Suns will go into this game as slight favourites, the recent loss of Gary Ablett leaves a huge hole in their lineup and is also likely to affect their confidence going forward. However, the Suns held off the Pies last round to snatch an inspiring win, something which should give them some energy this weekend. The Dogs challenged the Cats for much of last Sunday’s game in difficult conditions, but failed to capitalise on their good form and came away with nothing.
Teams:
WESTERN BULLDOGS
B Liam Picken, Jordan Roughead, Mark Austin
HB Robert Murphy, Dale Morris, Easton Wood
C Marcus Bontempelli, Matthew Boyd, Mitch Wallis
HF Jake Stringer, Stewart Crameri, Mitch Honeychurch
F Luke Dahlhaus, Jack Redpath, Lachie Hunter
FOLL Will Minson, Ryan Griffen, Tom Liberatore
I/C Jack Macrae, Nathan Hrovat, Koby Stevens,Sam Darley
EMG Daniel Giansiracusa, Jason Johannisen, Tom Campbell
IN Sam Darley
OUT Shaun Higgins (Omitted)
GOLD COAST
B Tom Murphy, Steven May, Greg Broughton
HB Sean Lemmens, Rory Thompson, Michael Rischitelli
C Jarrod Harbrow, David Swallow, Alex Sexton
HF Jack Martin, Tom Lynch, Harley Bennell
F Charlie Dixon, Sam Day, Aaron Hall
FOLL Zac Smith, Jaeger O’Meara, Dion Prestia
I/C Danny Stanley, Matt Shaw, Kade Kolodjashnij,Jesse Lonergan
EMG Luke Russell, Matthew Warnock, Jack Hutchins
IN Tom Murphy, Matt Shaw
OUT Trent McKenzie (Hamstring), Gary Ablett (Shoulder)
News:
Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna believes the season-ending injury to captain Gary Ablett must be viewed as an opportunity by the Suns’ youngsters.
The Suns will take on the Western Bulldogs in Cairns on Saturday without their talismanic skipper, who underwent a shoulder reconstruction in Melbourne on Thursday.
It’s just the sixth match the Suns have played without Ablett and comes as the club tries to hang onto its top eight position and an inaugural finals berth.
While established midfield stars such as Dion Prestia, David Swallow and Jaeger O’Meara seem the obvious players to fill Ablett’s sizeable void, McKenna believes others such as first-year sensation Jack Martin and Jesse Lonergan are actually the ones who need to step up.
“You’re not going to see a huge amount of a step up in Dion Prestia, David Swallow, those blokes whose output has been superb already for most of this season,” he said.
“You might get a small movement but it’s the movement from underneath those boys that’s going to be important.
“Jack Martin, Jesse Lonergan, Alex Sexton, some of these guys that would probably be another year to two years from going inside.
“A door shuts on Gary’s season but the door certainly flies open for some of these other boys to jump in and grab an opportunity. Our side’s been relatively settled we’ve just started to creak and groan a little bit. Opportunities are going to arrive.”
McKenna said surgery had shown more damage to Ablett’s shoulder than discovered in scans, confirming the decision to put the dual Brownlow Medallist under the knife was the best option.
He added the club was contemplating whether to use Ablett’s enforced break to operate on a thumb injury.
While Ablett is out, the Suns will also have to face the Bulldogs without Trent McKenzie, who suffered a hamstring injury in last weekend’s thrilling win over Collingwood.
The Suns’ finished that game without a fit player on the interchange bench for most of the final quarter, although Charlie Dixon (calf) and Sean Lemmens (concussion) have both been cleared to play on Saturday.
Matt Shaw has been brought in for McKenzie while Tom Murphy is the other new face in the Suns’ line-up.
McKenna said the team had been carefully managed throughout the week following their exertions against the Magpies and he was confident they won’t suffer in the far north Queensland conditions.
“We enjoy coming up here. The weather is similar to Gold Coast as well. It’s almost like a home game,” McKenna said.
The Bulldogs have made just one change for their trip north with Sam Darley coming in for Shaun Higgins.