Western Bulldogs vs Melbourne, Etihad Stadium, Friday 1st July,
Last time: Melb (66) def by WBD (70)
Western Bulldogs
In: Jarrad Grant, Sam Reid, Lukas Markovic, Andrew Hooper.
Out: Will Minson, Christian Howard, Justin Sherman (suspended), Jayden Schofield
Melbourne
In: Sam Blease (New). Out: Joel Macdonald (knee)
Melbourne are coming in deserving favourites after another good win over Richmond last week which has put them into the eight, looking like they will make finals this year. After a quick start by the Tigers the Dee’s booted 7 in the first quarter and controlled the game from that point onward, keeping a persistent Richmond team at arms length. On the other hand the Bulldogs had a Less than convincing win over the Gold Coast. After stretching the lead out to 8 goals at three quarter time the dogs dropped off and let the Sun’s bring the final margin back to 22 points. After the game Eade claimed this was caused by fatigue from the heat and long grass at Metricon stadium. There was some positive sings for the Dog’s however, Adam Cooney showed sings of getting back to his best, showing some agility and speed that he has missed this season by breaking through the centre square and nailing a goal from fifty. Sam Blease comes in to Melbourne Midfield for his first game and by all accounts has a lot of potential. While the Dogs have some good ins as well, not big names but they can all play, and they might have managed to drop a bit of dead weight. At the risk of underestimating Melbourne again this week I’m going to persist with tipping the dogs, I think they just might have the edge at Etihad where they play their best footy, but they are going to need to stand up this week against the Dee’s who are in great form.
Joe’s Bet: Western Bulldogs @ 2.05 (Sportingbet)