MATCH DETAILS

St Kilda v Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome, 2.10pm, Sunday  June 8

FORECAST

Becoming fine, Min 8, Max 16

BETTING

St Kilda $2.75, Western Bulldogs $1.40

LAST TIME THEY MET

Western Bulldogs 19.11 (125) d St Kilda 13.9 (87), round three, 2008, at Telstra Dome

FORM GUIDE

Western Bulldogs
The Dogs bounced right back from a tight loss to North Melbourne by defeating the ladder-leading Hawks at Aurora Stadium last Saturday. The Bullies will take plenty of confidence from that 32-point win with the previously undefeated Hawthorn side enjoying a very good record in Tasmania.

St Kilda
The Saints plummeted to a heavy defeat at the hands of the Brisbane Lions in round nine, but got back on the winners’ list in emphatic fashion against the hapless Demons on Sunday. The confidence-boosting 79-point win may have come against a struggling outfit, but you can only beat the opposition in front of you.

MEDICAL ROOM

Western Bulldogs
Two players picked up injuries in last week’s win over Hawthorn; Ben Hudson’s ankle won’t stop him fronting against the Saints, but Tim Callan’s hamstring will rule him out for three weeks. Scott West is still two to three weeks away from resuming from bone stress in his knee while Shaun Higgins is still at least two months away with an ankle injury.

St Kilda
Steven Baker is the only player with a chance to come off the injury list this week, with his jarred knee to undergo a test. Xavier Clarke (hamstring), Sam Gilbert (shoulder) and Glenn Chivers (foot) are all at least a week away, while Jayden Attard is drawing closer to a return (two to four weeks) from a knee reconstruction. Matt Maguire (foot) and Luke van Rheenen (foot) are both gone for the year.

RANDOM FACTS

The last six matches between these two sides have seen the Bulldogs win once – the last time they played each other in round three of this season –  and the Saints win four. There has been one draw.

KEY MATCH UPS

Dale Morris v Nick Riewoldt
Morris is the obvious choice to renew hostilities with the Saints skipper, but Tom Williams did a fair job on Lance Franklin and could also be in the mix. Riewoldt’s outstanding aerobic capacity is well-documented, but the Dog defender has the tank to go with him.

Daniel Giansiracusa v Jason Gram
The Saints generated all kinds of drive off the half-back line last week with Gram, Brendon Goddard and Sam Fisher combining for 82 possessions. In addition to presenting in attack, the Bullie half-forwards must also be conscious of Gram and co. going the other way.

Ben Hudson v Michael Gardiner
The former Eagle is starting to find his feet again and his 21 hit-outs were important against the Dees. Hudson is superior around the ground, but has a slight question mark over his mobility after he rolled his ankle against the Hawks.

WHAT THE CLUBS SAY

Western Bulldogs
"It's interesting, the draw. We play Brisbane next week and then we play them again eight weeks time after that. I think every team has some sort of anomaly or difference, but that's the way it is and what we have to deal with.

"They'll have five or six players different [from round three], and we'll probably have three, and the circumstances are a little bit different; we're both playing different.

"I think they'll be smarter than that. The thing with St Kilda is that they've been up and down a little bit, but they're still 5-5 and they've got some quality players and they turned it around on the weekend. It's going to be a tough game." – Rodney Eade, senior coach.

St Kilda
“They are the red hot team of the competition. We have to recognise they are in wonderful form. They’ve just beaten another top team in Hawthorn. I was down there watching and they competed incredibly hard, tackled really well and moved the ball really well.

“It’s a massive challenge for us but it will be good to benchmark exactly where we’re at.” – Ross Lyon, senior coach.

Western Bulldogs Team