Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne at Telstra Dome, Sunday August 10 at 1.10pm
Western Bulldogs $1.62, North Melbourne $2.30
Western Bulldogs 16.14 (110) def by North Melbourne 16.17 (113), round 9, 2008 at the Telstra Dome
The Dogs bounced back from their first consecutive losses of the season with a 16-point win over the Sydney Swans in Canberra last week. Rodney Eade's men were caught by surprise with the Swans mounting a fearsome early assault that saw them up by four goals, but did well to work back into the game and finish off strongly.
The Kangaroos moved closer to taking the Swans' spot in the top four with their fourth win on the trot at the weekend. The Brisbane Lions were their latest victim with the Roos coming from behind to take the premiership points on the Gold Coast.
Scott West’s knee condition continues to cause concern with his return to the VFL again delayed, while Tom Williams also received some bad news with a thigh strain sidelining him until at least round 21. Dylan Addison continues to rehabilitate a knee injury that could rule him out for the rest of the season, but Shaun Higgins has been cleared to play in the VFL this weekend.
Hamish McIntosh is still a week or two away from returning from his knee injury while Jesse Smith is still listed as two to three weeks with his hamstring tear. Adam Simpson (hip) and Aaron Edwards (fractured leg) are slated for a test.
After facing the Kangaroos in big games for Glenn Archer and Brent Harvey, the Bulldogs once again meet the Kangaroos in a milestone match; this time its Drew Petrie’s 150th.
Adam Cooney v Brady Rawlings
Cooney gathered 20 possessions in one of his more low-key performances at the weekend, but he amassed 33 the last time these sides met in round nine and will be the most likely target of the human blanket that is Brady Rawlings.
Brian Lake v Nathan Thompson
Thompson returns to the Kangaroos’ goal front after a spell in the VFL designed to help him build strength in his reconstructed knee away from the spotlight. Lake always gets the tough jobs and should get first crack at the rejuvenated Roo forward.
Brad Johnson v Shannon Watt
Johnno won’t have fond memories of the last time these two teams played after he steered his potential match-winner wide after the final siren. Not much has been said about that in the lead-up to the return bout, but you can bet he’s had a quiet thought or two about it and will be keen to put in a big one.
"[Winning momentum] is the key; you don't want to go into finals losing the last four games.
"Our focus is on North Melbourne this week, and they've got a good record against us and it will be a tough game.
"We've got to go out there and put the right processes in place like we have in the first 18 weeks. We can't start thinking about four weeks' time, because anything could happen in four weeks.
"It's all about this week. We always seem to have good contests with them, and you know what you're going to get against North Melbourne – it's similar to what you get against Sydney.
"They're hard, contested and they never give up so we're going to have to be on our game." – Mitch Hahn
POSITION | NAME | # | NAME | # | NAME | # |
Backs | Dale MORRIS | 38 | Brian LAKE | 36 | Tim CALLAN | 33 |
Half-Backs | Farren RAY | 1 | Ryan HARGRAVE | 25 | Lindsay GILBEE | 9 |
Centres | Nathan EAGLETON | 10 | Matthew BOYD | 5 | Daniel CROSS | 4 |
Half Forwards | Robert MURPHY | 2 | Mitch HAHN | 8 | Brad JOHNSON | 6 |
Forwards | Jason AKERMANIS | 21 | Will MINSON | 27 | Scott WELSH | 28 |
Followers | Ben HUDSON | 15 | Adam COONEY | 17 | Ryan GRIFFEN | 16 |
Interchange | Daniel GIANSIRACUSA | 13 | Jarrod HARBROW | 40 | Callan WARD | 14 |
Stephen TILLER | 35 | |||||
Emergencies | Andrejs EVERITT | 3 | Peter STREET | 11 | Josh HILL | 20 |
North Melbourne
"[I'm not sure if there's] a mental edge just because we beat them last time. They're going along really well and have pretty much sewn up that third spot on the ladder.
"We've got a tough task again [and] we've still got to win a few of these games before the season's out to hold on to the top-eight position. The Dogs have been in great form and had another good over Sydney on the weekend.
"It's good having played them not so long ago. We'll be able to use things from that day to help us beat them again this time.
"We'll just prepare like we do for a normal game and not try and get too get carried away with finals or anything like that." – Drew Petrie
