Saturday’s third AFL Round 9 match is between St Kilda Saints and Western Bulldogs with the game to be played at Etihad Stadium. The opening bounce is set to commence at 4:40pm local time with home team St Kilda Saints currently holding favouritism despite a big loss to Adelaide last week. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between St Kilda Saints and Western Bulldogs.
WHERE AND WHEN: Etihad Stadium, Saturday 25th May, 4:40pm
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Preview:
St Kilda vs Western Bulldogs on Saturday, 4.40PM at Etihad Stadium. The Saints have not exactly set the country on fire so far in 2013, but will go into this match as favourites against the lowly Bulldogs. The Bulldogs have won just one game from their last 19, and really need to fight hard and build some respect, and points, in the face of mounting criticism. The Saints will most likely win this one, with Nick Riewoldt continuing to play well despite mixed results on the score sheet.
Teams:
St Kilda Saints:
B: Rhys Stanley, James Gwilt, Jack Newnes
HB: Sean Dempster, Sam Fisher, Jimmy Webster
C: Farren Ray, Lenny Hayes, Dylan Roberton
HF: Nick Dal Santo, Beau Maister, Jarryn Geary
F: Tom Hickey, Nick Riewoldt, Stephen Milne
Foll: Ben McEvoy, Leigh Montagna, Jack Steven
Int: Arryn Siposs, David Armitage, Sebastian Ross, Ahmed Saad
Emerg: Josh Saunders, Terry Milera, Clinton Jones
In: L. Hayes
Out: T. Milera
Western Bulldogs:
B: Liam Picken, Jordan Roughead, Jason Johannisen
HB: Tom Young, Dale Morris, Brett Goodes
C: Matthew Boyd, Ryan Griffen, Robert Murphy
HF: Luke Dahlhaus, Liam Jones, Jake Stringer
F: Dylan Addison, Tom Williams, Daniel Giansiracusa
Foll: Will Minson, Clay Smith, Tom Liberatore
Int: Koby Stevens, Nathan Hrovat, Jack Macrae, Nick Lower
Emerg: Lukas Markovic, Mitch Wallis, Daniel Cross
In: D. Addison, T. Williams, N. Hrovat
Out: D. Cross, A. Cooney (hamstring), L. Markovic
AFL’s Bulldogs close to winning: McCartney
Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney predicts wins will start coming for his AFL club quicker than outside observers or possibly even his own players expect.
McCartney says the Dogs, who have won just one of their past 19 games – against Brisbane in round one – and lost to Gold Coast on Saturday, are frustrated and disappointed.
But he says some injuries to key players and a relatively tough draw early in the season have played a part and the club is still heading the right way.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the reason I can say we’re closer than maybe even our players realise at times is we’ve had to contend with that in the last eight or nine games last year and early this year,” McCartney told reporters on Wednesday.
“The challenge is when we do get presented with opportunities we take them.”
McCartney said the loss to the Suns largely turned on a five-minute burst to end the third quarter when Gold Coast piled on three quick goals to make it six in a row.
He said the Dogs should have been able to stem that run quicker, with their failure to do so partly a result of poor communication from him and his fellow coaches to the players.
“We’re disappointed with our results but we’re very clear about where we’re going,” McCartney said.
“Outside our club not everyone might see that and at the moment it’s quite clear very few people would probably agree with what I’m saying.
“But internally we believe we’re a lot closer to some better results than people realise.”
The Bulldogs on Saturday play St Kilda, who, in 15th spot, are just one place higher on the ladder with one more win, and who McCartney says are at a similar stage of development.
“They’ve probably got some frustrations similar to us at times where they have patches in games where they either don’t take their chances or the opposition get them on the scoreboard for five minutes,” he said.
“I think it will be a very, very competitive game.
“There’s good history between the two clubs in the last four or five years.
“To be honest both clubs are probably at an identical stage.”
