WESTERN BULLDOGS v MELBOURNE

WHERE & WHEN: Telstra Dome, 2.10pm, Sunday, 13 May

MEDIA COVERAGE: Channel 7 (Melbourne 3pm, Adelaide 3pm, New South Wales 2pm, Queensland 2pm), Triple M (Melbourne, Adelaide), 3AW, NIRS (Perth, Brisbane, Darwin), afl.com.au (live audio and scoring)

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Played: 147, Western Bulldogs: 64, Melbourne: 82, Drawn: 1

LAST TIME: Melbourne 18.11 (119) d Western Bulldogs 9.14 (68), round 17, 2006, at the MCG

TAB Sportsbet: Western Bulldogs: $1.36, Melbourne $3.00

MILESTONES: The Bulldogs will celebrate two milestones, with Nathan Eagleton to play his 200th game and Peter Street his 50th club game. Eagleton is one of the most experienced players at the club, and started his career at Port Adelaide in 1997. He played 56 games for the Power before crossing to the Dogs for the 2000 season, and has enjoyed a career that has included representing Australia in the International Rules and a nomination for the 1997 AFL Rising Star award. Street started his career at Geelong in 2001, and played 17 games for the Cats before moving to the Dogs at the end of 2003. He has played 66 senior AFL games and kicked 14 goals.

INJURIES:Demons have more injury concerns than they know what to do with. They will selected Brad Green (hamstring), but not Brock McLean (foot) and Paul Wheatley (shoulder) ahead of Sunday's game, and they won't regain Matthew Whelan (hamstring) for another week. Russell Robertson (knee) could be a handy inclusion in three weeks' time, while Clint Bartram (knee) is set to miss another month and Isaac Weetra (wrist) will be unavailable for another five.

RECENT HEAD TO HEAD HISTORY: Clashes against the Demons won't hold particularly fond memories for Bulldog supporters recently, as they've only been witness to two wins from the last 11 head-to-heads.

The Demons won last year's second encounter between the two sides by 51 points, after the Dogs claimed early bragging rights with a 47-point win in round two. Before last year, the Demons were on a four-match winning streak, which could easily have been an nine-game winning blitz had it not been interrupted by a Dogs' victory in round 18 of 2003.

RECENT FORM: The Bulldogs were good against the Eagles at Subiaco last weekend, and got within 15 points of the premiers – a vast turnaround from the 74-point hiding they were handed by the Eagles in the second week of the finals last year. Rodney Eade said the overall performance was pleasing.

The Demons are winless after six rounds of football. Last week, they were unlucky not to overcome Port Adelaide at the MCG, and in the end, it was a controversial umpiring decision that kept the side from snaring its first win of the year.

RED HOT PLAYERS: Matthew Boyd was terrific for the Bulldogs last week, and was responsible for keeping Eagles' speedster Daniel Kerr to only 14 disposals.

Daniel Giansiracusa broke through to kick three goals last week – which were needed with Murphy injuring his hamstring – and Brad Johnson kicked two, while Daniel Cross and Scott West again got plenty of the ball and shared 58 possessions between them.

For the Demons, veterans Nathan Brown and Adem Yze led the way on work rate, while Simon Godfrey performed a more-than- adequate job on Shaun Burgoyne that held the pacy midfielder to only nine touches.

THE X-FACTOR: Mitch Hahn. The handy forward hasn't played since round 12 last year, when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. The Demons will find it hard to predict just what Hahn will do in his first match of senior football in almost 12 months. Hahn has been in good touch for Werribee in the past five weeks and has played a combination of reserve and senior footy. He was close to best on ground last weekend, and could provide a real challenge for the Demons with his unpredictability.

QUIRKY STAT: In the past six years, the Bulldogs have struggled against the Demons at the MCG. They have met five times at the "home of football", and the Demons have won four of them – the Bulldogs only breaking through in round seven of 2001.

But at Telstra Stadium the head-to-head record is fairly even. Since the stadium opened in 2000, the two sides have met on eight occasions – the Bulldogs winning three and the Demons five.

The Demons had a strong record over the Bulldogs in the first seven years they met. It took the Bulldogs until round 16, 1931, to notch up their first win over the Demons, after enduring 11 losses and one draw since joining the league in 1925.

But there is something Dogs supporters can gloat about. The Bulldogs' greatest winning margin, 120 points, was against the Demons in round 15, 1985, at Whitten Oval.

FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS: Brian Wilson. The talented midfielder/forward played for four clubs across his career, but started as a Bulldog in 1978, where he played nine games. He then moved to North Melbourne after being dumped by the Dogs for being overweight, where he played 39 games and lost 15kg. He then moved to Melbourne in 1982, where he won a Brownlow medal in his first season at only 20 years of age. He played in Melbourne's losing Grand Final side in 1988 and then retired just before the 1990 finals series before being drafted by St Kilda in November that year. He played seven games for the Saints before hanging up his boots permanently.

WHAT THE FAN SAYS: "A few weeks back, I would have chalked this down as the Mother's Day massacre.

"Now, I'm not so sure. You see, I was among the MCC members choking on their gin and tonics (well in my case, a Mt Franklin water) last Sunday when Melbourne was quite frankly very unlucky not to knock off an excellent Port Adelaide outfit.

"Meanwhile, the night before (like too many times already this season), I wasn't quite sure what to make of the Dogs' dinner over in Perth. You can talk about the free kick count all you like, but the other stats, like hard balls and contests, made for pretty unattractive reading from our viewpoint.

"Was it an honourable loss? Did we merely limit the damage? And/or did the Eagles have an off-day and yet, let's face it, still comfortably make it over the line?

"So, sorry Mum. It's going to be a rather short yum cha on Sunday, because I want answers. And Telstra Dome might just be the venue to provide some.

"Go on, Dogs. Give us a sign." - John Skaro, Bulldogs member.

WHAT THE COACH SAYS: "Melbourne was close to being a top-four side last year, and unfortunately they've been racked by injuries.

"They'll probably get another two or three back this week, and I think they'll gain a lot of confidence from the weekend's game.

"Port Adelaide are a very good side, and we've had some very good battles over the last few years, and the two teams are relatively even. I think it will be a tough contest." – Rodney Eade, senior coach.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.