After a rare and narrow win over the hapless GWS back in round 15, the Bulldogs have lost to Essendon and Hawthorn and whilst they’ve finished on the wrong side of the ledger in those games, the effort has at least been there.
They can take some positives out of those games and apply them to this match against West Coast as they search for their fourth win of the season.
West Coast strung four wins together during the middle of the season and looked to be building some much needed momentum heading into the second half of the year however, the Eagles have only been able to win two of their past seven games with their most recent matches, resulting in losses to Fremantle and last week, Sydney.
They sit two wins out of the eight in tenth spot on the ladder and needless to say, can not afford to drop a game for the remainder of the season.
They’ll be confident of winning this game though given their recent winning efforts over the Bulldogs. They’ve won the last four straight, three of them by margins of 70, 49 and 123.
They’ve only been asked to cover 23.5 here but given the efforts of the Bulldogs over the past fortnight and, coupled with the omission this week of Nic Naitanui from the Eagles, the Bulldogs will make sure the West Coast earn their victory.
Expecting a tight contest here than the market suggests.
Odds comparison by AFL Odds:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Western Bulldogs | 3.30 | 3.50 | 3.55 | 3.50 | 3.30 | 3.35 |
|
West Coast Eagles
|
1.33 | 1.30 | 1.29 | 1.30 | 1.33 | 1.34 |
Teams:
Western Bulldogs:
1 Jarrad Grant
2 Robert Murphy
3 Mitch Wallis
5 Matthew Boyd
6 Luke Dahlhaus
9 Jake Stringer (INT)
11 Jack Macrae (INT)
13 Daniel Giansiracusa
15 Jason Tutt
16 Ryan Griffen
17 Adam Cooney
19 Liam Jones
21 Tom Liberatore
22 Dylan Addison (INT)
23 Jordan Roughead
25 Koby Stevens
26 Lachie Hunter (INT)
27 Will Minson
29 Tory Dickson
30 Christian Howard (INT)
31 Tom Young (INT)
32 Michael Talia
38 Dale Morris
42 Liam Picken
47 Mark Austin (INT)
In: Matthew Boyd ,Mark Austin ,Christian Howard ,Jake Stringer ,Tom Young
Out: Brett Goodes (Arm) , Nathan Hrovat (Soreness)
Milestones: Tom Liberatore – Playing 50th game
West Coast Eagles:
1 Mitchell Brown
3 Andrew Gaff
5 Brad Sheppard (INT)
7 Chris Masten
10 Scott Selwood
11 Matt Priddis
12 Sharrod Wellingham (INT)
15 Jamie Cripps
16 Eric Mackenzie
17 Josh Kennedy
18 Bradd Dalziell
19 Adam Carter
20 Dean Cox
24 Matt Rosa (INT)
26 Sam Butler
27 Jack Darling
28 Ashley Smith
29 Scott Lycett
30 Blayne Wilson (INT)
31 Will Schofield
33 Josh Hill
34 Mark Hutchings (INT)
36 Fraser McInnes (INT)
40 Cale Morton (INT)
43 Ashton Hams
In: Sam Butler ,Ashton Hams ,Matt Rosa ,Scott Selwood ,Brad Sheppard ,Scott Lycett ,Blayne Wilson ,Fraser McInnes
Out: Darren Glass (Soreness) , Adam Selwood (Omitted) , Mark LeCras (Foot) , Nic Naitanui (Soreness) , Luke Shuey (Hamstring)
New: Fraser McInnes