MATCH DETAILS
Western Bulldogs v Geelong at Skilled Stadium, 2.10pm, Saturday July 19
FORECAST
Late rain, min 5, max 13
BETTING
Western Bulldogs $2.50, Geelong $1.53
LAST TIME THEY MET
Western Bulldogs 9.9 (63) lost to Geelong 20.18 (138), round 16, 2007, at Telstra Dome
FORM GUIDE
Western Bulldogs
The Dogs barely got out of second gear against the Demons, but had enough class to register their sixth win on the trot. Matthew Boyd was the key midfielder for the Bullies with 33 possessions, while Jason Akermanis and Will Minson each contributed three goals.
Geelong
The Cats made it six wins in a row with a comprehensive win over Fremantle at Skilled Stadium. Corey Enright amassed 37 possessions and Tom Lonergan booted four goals.
MEDICAL ROOM
Western Bulldogs
Ryan Griffen (family reasons) and Scott Welsh (back) will return this week and Mitch Hahn has been cleared to play after snapping a tendon in his foot last week. Tom Williams will miss a week with a shoulder injury while Scott West (knee – three weeks), Wayde Skipper (knee – four weeks) and Tim Callan (hamstring – two weeks) are also unavailable.
Geelong
Cameron Ling (cheekbone – three weeks) and Gary Ablett (ankle – one week) were major additions to the injury list out of last week’s win over Fremantle. James Kelly will undergo a fitness test on his injured calf as will Kane Tenace (knee).
RANDOM FACTS
The Bulldogs have won five of the last six matches they have played at Skilled Stadium.
KEY MATCH-UPS
Matthew Boyd v Jimmy Bartel
Boyd won’t necessarily play a hard tag on any Cat midfielder as he has developed into quite the ball magnet himself, but if he does return to a more defensive mindset, the reigning Brownlow Medallist seems a likely target.
Brian Lake v Cam Mooney
Tom Lonergan has been among the goals of late, but Mooney’s importance to the Geelong forward structure dictates he be assigned the Dogs' best key defender.
Scott Welsh v Matthew Scarlett
Mark Thompson will fancy this match-up as an opportunity for his classy full-back to run off his opponent, so Welsh will need to make sure he packs his running boots for the trip. Having said that, Welsh is capable of doing some major damage himself if Scarlett gets caught down the field by a turnover.
WHAT THE CLUBS SAY
Western Bulldogs
"It's a pretty long season and some weeks you bounce out of the blocks, and we didn't on the weekend. We will definitely have to lift that [intensity] on Saturday.
"It's exciting to be involved in a game that everyone is interested in . . . It's why I play, to play in big games and finals.
"It's been a long time coming to play in a game this big, so we're looking forward to it.
"We wouldn't go down there if we didn't think they were beatable.
"We've had a bit of success [at Skilled Stadium] over a few years ago, and I know they're totally different sides.” – Robert Murphy
Geelong
“We’ve had a pretty good rivalry with the Bullies over a five- or six-year period and no doubt our team look at the ladder and look at their performances and know who the quality teams are.
“They’re well aware that they’re playing one this week. I think it’ll be a hard game. They’ve just improved so much in the contested-ball side of things and I think it’ll be a pretty fierce battle.
“I think it’ll be a really fair, hard game of footy.” – Mark Thompson, senior coach
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the club.
