Round 6 - Carlton vs Western Bulldogs
(Pictured Above: Cripps extracts a clearance against the Bulldogs midfield)
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Carlton - LLLLL
Western Bulldogs - LLWLL
Game Preview
After a lacklustre start to the season the Bulldogs have come back in to some decent form after defeating Essendon
and putting up a valiant effort against the Swans. For the Blues the start of the season has been dire with the reality of injuries and a lack experience on field taking its toll with the Blues yet to win a game.The Bulldogs will be coming off a road trip to Perth after their round 5 clash against Fremantle while the Blues will be facing them after their own round 5 encounter with West Coast at the MCG.
Both sides have had their own issues generating a winning score this season with the Bulldogs highest score of 104 coming in their only win of the season while the Blues have failed to score 100 points in... well a long time. In defence both sides have conceded some heavy scores as well this season however the Bulldogs may feel a bit more comfortable coming in to this game with Easton Wood showing some good form after moving back in to defence while Aaron Naughton has continually improved in his first year.
The midfield battle will be presumably where this game is won and lost and the Bulldogs seem to have a bit more depth and maturity at the moment with the likes of Dahlhaus, Wallis, Macrae, Hunter and of course Bontempelli, for the Blues Cripps and Ed Curnow have carried a lot of the load so far this season with Thomas, SPS and Fisher having some influence from time to time.
Predicted Lineups
Plowman - Jones - Mullett
Dickson - Boyd - Gowers
O'Brien - Rowe - Simpson
Dunkley - Bontempelli - Wallis
Fisher - E.Curnow - Kerridge
Hunter - Dahlhaus - Dale
Thomas - Casboult - Garlett
Suckling - Wood - Johannisen
McKay - C.Curnow - Wright
Richards - Naughton - Cordy
Phillips - Cripps - SPS
English - McLean - Macrae
Silvagni - Dow - O'Shea - Lamb
Honeychurch - Daniel - Webb - Jong
For the Bulldogs Hunter will almost definitely return after serving a 1 week suspension. Bailey Williams, Trengove and Redpath may also have a chance of being selected.Dickson - Boyd - Gowers
O'Brien - Rowe - Simpson
Dunkley - Bontempelli - Wallis
Fisher - E.Curnow - Kerridge
Hunter - Dahlhaus - Dale
Thomas - Casboult - Garlett
Suckling - Wood - Johannisen
McKay - C.Curnow - Wright
Richards - Naughton - Cordy
Phillips - Cripps - SPS
English - McLean - Macrae
Silvagni - Dow - O'Shea - Lamb
Honeychurch - Daniel - Webb - Jong
For the Blues Kennedy, Kreuzer and Weitering may be potential ins (pending injury news) while A.Silvagni and Lang have a chance of being selected. Other possible selections include Macreadie, Shaw and Lebois who may come in for under performing players such as O'Shea and J.Silvagni.
Key Players/Matchups
Bontempelli - Has spent a fair amount of time up forward this year and could create a lot of issues for the Blues defence if he gets enough supply.
Cripps - Stating the obvious but it's hard to see the Blues winning without Cripps having a monster game in the midfield as well as hitting the scoreboard.
Johannisen - If the Blues continue to play slowly with predictable forward 50 entries JJ will have a field day rebounding out of defence.
Phillips/Kreuzer vs English - While English has performed well so far this season despite his inexperience this is one area where Carlton may have a potential advantage.
Macrae - If the Bulldogs midfield gets on top and begins to dominate Macrae has the potential to slice teams apart with his disposal in the forward half.
Charlie Curnow - With Wood more likely to play on Casboult or McKay Charlie will be potentially be matched up with Naughton or Cordy which should give him an opportunity to find the ball frequently.
Overall Prediction
This is probably the most winnable the Blues have till the bye and the Bulldogs generally aren't going to blow teams away with a high score. In a low scoring affair the Bulldogs by 12 points.
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