THE WESTERN Bulldogs and Essendon are two teams that are ultra offensive, genuinely exciting and fantastic to watch.

Both teams are in good form, with the Dogs winning seven of their past nine and their two losses being by two points to the Cats and last week's one-point nail-biter against the Pies.

The Bombers have won three of their past four, taking on the opposition with run, carry and breaking the lines.

Although this style has been successful at times this year for the Bombers, if they are going to be a chance tonight they have to think defence before attack.

You take on the Dogs at your peril.

The teams that have the most success against them close them down and don’t allow them to run and link up with handball.

The Bulldogs are the most efficient team in the league, averaging 23 possessions per goal and ranked No. 1.

Although Essendon is improving its defence all over the ground, the Bombers aren’t likely to be able to close down the Dogs.

The Dogs have won all of their past five encounters – all at Docklands – and have been able to score too easy and heavily, averaging 20 goals per game.

I think the Bulldogs will cause the Bombers grief again up forward, with Aker, Murphy, Higgins, Welsh, Hahn and Johnson (who has enjoyed dining out on the Dons over the years) up against Fletcher, Pears, McPhee, Slattery and Hurley. They will have too much experience and class, and will be able to create mismatches.

The Bombers' forwards are going to have their work cut out for them, with Lake in career -best form, Harbrow and Gilbee giving plenty of run and penetration and Morris negating everyone he comes up against.

The midfield battles between Cross and Watson, Cooney and Welsh and Picken on Lovett will be great to watch, but shouldn’t affect what I expect to be a comfortable win for the Dogs.

Collingwood v Hawthorn
Led by ball magnet Dane Swan, Collingwoodhasbeen sensational in winning its past seven. Hawthorn has been average all year until the last quarter of last week's game against North Melbourne.

It looked to me as if something finally clicked and they said to themselves, 'We’ve had enough of playing like this.'

In that final term you could have thought you were watching a repeat of one of their quarters last year: Mitchell extracting the ball from stoppages; Lewis and Sewell hard at it and getting plenty of the footy; Hodge inspiring his team with quality contested ball and a game-winning goal, and the superstar Buddy Franklin kicking four goals in adverse conditions.

The confidence was back. Sometimes that’s all it takes; 15 minutes of hard work that produces results and creates the confidence to get a season back on track.

The Hawks have bashed Collingwood in their past two meetings by an average margin of 52 points. Buddy has kicked 14 in those games and Mitchell has averaged 32 possessions in his past six matches against the Pies.

Sewell will put the clamps on Swan and Hodgey will patrol the backline repelling Collingwood's inside 50s.

There is no doubt the Pies deserve to start heavy favorites on current form, but after seeing that twinkle in the eye in the big fella in that last quarter, the Hawks will be getting my money.

St Kilda v Adelaide
This is the game of the round. The Saints are coming off two massive weeks – the Cats blockbuster and a last quarter revival to knock off West Coast.

It must be taking its toll on the Saints players, and with the Crows players coming off an easy one against Freo at home you would think they will be reasonably fresh.

If both teams were going in fresh I would feel very comfortable in picking the Saints.

The Crows have won their past seven but have only beaten two of the top eight in Carlton and Essendon, both of which aren’t certainties to stay in there.

Due to their preparations, if the Crows don’t at least get close to the Saints you couldn’t call them premiership contenders. The Saints by 14.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.