MATCH DETAILS
Western Bulldogs v Richmond at Telstra Dome, Sunday 20 April, at 2.10pm
FORECAST
Fine, Min 11, Max 24
BETTING
Western Bulldogs $1.41, Richmond $2.95
LAST TIME THEY MET
Western Bulldogs 20.12 (132) d Richmond 14.16 (100), round four, 2007, at the MCG
FORM GUIDE
There's not much questioning of the Bulldogs' recent form. With four wins from four starts, the Doggies are third on the ladder behind fellow unbeaten sides Hawthorn and Geelong. Their scalps so far include Adelaide, Melbourne, St Kilda and Essendon, with their biggest win coming over the Demons (95 points) in round two.
Richmond provided one of the upsets of the season with a 64-point thrashing of Fremantle in Perth. It was a massive turnaround for a playing group that looked lost against Collingwood the week before. The Tigers had the blowtorch applied after that loss, but now find themselves in the eight with two wins and two losses.
MEDICAL ROOM
Western Bulldogs
The Dogs will be without key playmaker Scott West for one more week as he continues to recover from a knee complaint. Tom Williams is one week away from resuming from a thigh injury, but Shaun Higgins will be out for at least three months with ankle ligament damage.
Richmond
The Tigers are one of the least injured clubs at the moment. Mark Coughlan (knee) and Angus Graham (hip) are both listed as available with Andrew Raines (knee – two weeks) and Danny Meyer (hip – two weeks) the only players unavailable.
RANDOM FACTS
The Bulldogs have defeated the Tigers the last four times they have met. Richmond hasn’t come away with the points since round three of 2005.
Hawthorn great Michael and Richmond’s Shane Tuck become the third father/son combination to play 500 games between them when Shane plays his 74th league game on Sunday. The Silvagni’s (Serge and Stephen) and the Fletchers (Ken and Dustin) are the only other families to reach the milestone.
Graham Polak will play his 100th AFL match.
KEY MATCH UPS
Brian Lake v Matthew Richardson – It’s a fair bet that big Richo will return to the goal front after surprising Fremantle by playing on a wing, which brings him right back into Lake territory.
Jason Akermanis v Jake King – The rejuvenated Aker has been in fine form lately and Tiger terrier Jake King might just get the task of burrowing under the Browlow medallist's skin on Sunday.
The entire team v Jordan McMahon – The former Bulldog wasn’t shy about sharing his thoughts on why he felt the need to depart Whitten Oval in the off-season and it should be interesting to see what sort of reception he receives.
WHAT THE CLUBS SAY
Western Bulldogs
"I think their tricks can be over-played, to be honest. 'Richo' playing on the wing ... he plays high sometimes anyway.
"It surprised me that Freo didn't react to that, but I think the Tigers have got a good squad. I've always thought that in these four walls. They've got a good team.
"The two games they've lost have been to top four sides from last year. I think people have jumped on them too quickly and they'll certainly be a tough opposition on the weekend." – Rodney Eade, senior coach.
Richmond
“The proof’s going to be in the next couple of weeks on where we’re going to go [this season]. Obviously we’re playing a couple of undefeated sides, which starts this week against the Bulldogs.
“They’re in great form, they’re a great running team themselves and it gives us a great challenge to see how far we’ve stepped up.” – Terry Wallace, senior coach
