Apologies but better late than never, been a rather long day.
Thanks for the nod, took a few liberties with the format but trust there's still plenty to dissect, disagree with and dismiss.
Enjoy.
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2008 AFL SEASON
ROUND 6 MATCH PREVIEW:
WESTERN BULLDOGS (3rd) versus WEST COAST EAGLES (15th)
Docklands, Saturday 26th April
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WHEN THEY LAST MET:
Round 17, 2007 Home and Away Season
Docklands, Friday 27th July
Eagles: 24.14.158
Bulldogs: 9.17.71
87 point Eagle victory was that club's greatest winning margin for season 2007 and was largely predicated upon a 7 goal to 2 2nd term to gain the ascendancy before a 9 goal to 3 final term to complete the blowout and hand the Dogs' their 2nd consecutive loss as part of an eventual 7 game winless streak to torpedo their season.
A relentless Eagles' squad employed their run and carry game to slashing effect as evidenced by their 202 handballs to the Dogs' 127...Lynch booted 5 majors for the victors with glass-jawed Staker potting a lazy four, while onballer Kerr took best afield honours on the back of a game-high 34-touch showing...Matt Boyd collected a team-high 32 possessions for the Bulldogs, while rookie Josh Hill chalked up his AFL debut, as did Eagle Will Schofield.
Brownlow Voting:
3 - Daniel Kerr (Eagles)
2 - Ben Cousins (Eagles)
1 - Quinten Lynch (Eagles)
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2008 LADDER POSITION:
Bulldogs (3rd)
Eagles (15th)
2008 FORMLINE:
BULLDOGS
WIN vs Crows
WIN vs Demons
WIN vs Saints
WIN vs Bombers
DRAW vs Tigers
EAGLES
WIN vs Lions
LOSS vs Crows
LOSS vs Dockers
LOSS vs Swans
LOSS vs Power
THEIR LAST OUTING: BULLDOGS
Round 5, 2008 Home and Away Season
Docklands, Sunday 20th April
Bulldogs: 19.16.130
Tigers: 20.10.130
Recap: The Bulldogs mailed in arguably their least convincing performance of 2008 and were most fortunate to escape with two points, clawing back from four goals down late in the last stanza during a final four minute flurry culminating in Will Minson's coolly executed but nonetheless dramatic equaliser with 17 seconds left on the clock, the feat made possible by a heavily contested Brian Lake mark in the dying stages after which the influential defender was forced to leave the field. While the Tigers typically ran hard in numbers, many of the Dogs' prime movers including Griffen, Gilbee and Eagleton were quelled for much of the afternoon and the club was wasteful in front of goal, the prime culprit being uncharacteristically errant forward Scott Welsh (5 behinds).
Bulldogs' Best: Boyd, Cross, Giansiracusa, Akermanis, Minson
THEIR LAST OUTING: EAGLES
Round 5, 2008 Home and Away Season
Subiaco, Sunday 20th April
Power: 19.14.128
Eagles: 16.8.104
Recap: West Coast recorded their highest score of season 2008 in spite of the loss on the back of a fast finish, outscoring the Power by a 7 goal to 2 margin in a resurgent final term. The Eagles welcomed back key cogs Wirrpanda and Embley from stints on the sidelines and both were among their club's more influential contributors. The biggest highlight for the losing side was the contribution of 3rd year forward Ben McKinley who snapped five goals, giving the mid-sized target a total of 12 majors for the season and earning him a Rising Star nomination. That aside, the Eagles played without the sort of purpose, flair or discipline they've unleashed on the rest of the league for much of the past 4-5 seasons, and seem a disorganised team bereft of confidence and answers at present.
Eagles' Best: Wirrpanda, Selwood, Embley, McKinley, Glass
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SELECTION TABLE:
BULLDOGS:
Brad Johnson has been visibly hampered by a succession of niggles in recent weeks which has affected his form to the extent the Dogs' may choose to rest their valiant skipper...Emerging trio Farren Ray, Andrejs Everitt, Tom Williams continue to work their way back from injury but appear at least a fortnight away from serious consideration, while the position of a number of fringe players may be re-examined due to spotty form including Harbrow, Wight, Callan and Addison. Minor injuries to Lake, Murphy and Akermanis versus the Tigers aren't expected to jeapordise their spots.
On the flipside of the ledger pivotal centreman Scott West is likely to be welcomed back with open arms after a fortnight on the sidelines thanks to minor knee surgery. In other news tall utility Wayde Skipper may be a smoky for his first game of season 2008 depending on team structure, while first year midfielder Callan Ward continues to edge closer to a possible debut in the bigs.
EAGLES:
Rangy forward Ash Hansen was a late withdrawal versus Port Adelaide thanks to hamstring soreness and will be hoping the week off puts him in good stead to resume this round. That aside, few injury concerns arose in the washup of their loss to the Power however another lacklustre showing purportedly has Eagles coach John Worsfold looking to wield the axe with Michael Braun and Chad Fletcher mooted to be amongst the potential selection victims.
As a result, should he be ready to resume after hamstring problems energetic midfielder Matt Priddis should be the subject of a long hard look and starry-eyed Brent Staker is slated to resume after a week off nursing a concussion, while off-season acquisition Josh Kennedy may debut for his new club after swapping his navy blue guernsey for blue and gold as part of the Judd blockbuster.
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2008 STATISTICAL COMPARISON:
Individual Statistical Leaders:
BULLDOGS
Possessions: Daniel Cross (133, 5th leaguewide)
Kicks: Robert Murphy (69)
Handballs: Daniel Cross (80)
Marks: Robert Murphy (43)
Goals: Brad Johnson, Scott Welsh (tied on 11)
Tackles: Daniel Cross (26)
Frees For: Daniel Cross (12)
Frees Against: Brad Johnson (8)
EAGLES
Possessions: Daniel Kerr (112, 34th leaguewide)
Kicks: Beau Waters (60)
Handballs: Daniel Kerr (64)
Marks: Brett Jones (37)
Goals: Ben McKinley (12)
Tackles Tyson Stenglein (25)
Frees For: Daniel Kerr (13)
Frees Against: Shannon Hurn (9)
Team Statistical Averages Per Round:
BULLDOGS:
Disposals: 368 (5th leaguewide)
Kicks: 218 (4th)
Handballs: 150 (9th)
Marks: 115 (3rd)
Goals: 20 (1st)
Tackles: 45 (13th)
EAGLES:
Disposals: 352 (7th leaguewide)
Kicks: 190 (13th)
Handballs: 161 (5th)
Marks: 94 (15th)
Goals: 10 (15th)
Tackles: 50 (8th)
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DID YOU KNOW?
- The Eagles have won their last three encounters with the Bulldogs by margins of 87, 15 and 54 points respectively.
- Five rounds into the 2008 home and away season, the Bulldogs currently own the leaguewide high-water mark for biggest single-round score to date (24.17.161 - Round 2 vs Demons), while the Eagles have the dubious distinction of being held to the lowest (5.15.45 - Round 4 vs Swans).
- The Eagles' current record of 1 win and 4 losses is their equal worst start to a season in the club's 21 year history, a feat they previously achieved in both 1989 and 1996.
- The Bulldogs and Eagles each have five players selected as part of the preliminary 40-man squads for this year's Hall of Fame Tribute match set to take place at the MCG on May 10th. (Bulldogs: Johnson, Morris, Cooney, Griffen, Murphy - Eagles: Cox, Glass, Kerr, Hunter, Wirrpanda)
- The Eagles have recorded wins in just 9 of 25 games played at Docklands since 2000, however their recent form is more flattering with victories in five of their past seven contests at the venue...The Bulldogs and Eagles have met on just two occasions at the Dome, with the visitors taking the points on both occasions by margins of 7 points (Round 1, 2004) and 87 points (Round 17, 2007).
- The Bulldogs' all-time head-to-head record versus the Eagles sees them with 12 wins and 1 draw from 36 clashes for a winning percentage of 34.72%. This represents the club's worst all-time success rate against any VFL/AFL foe barring the Magpies (28.93%) and Power (31.25%).
- Prolific onballer Scott West has averaged almost 32 touches a game in the previous five meetings between these two clubs, the most of any participant from either team during that span.
- The Bulldogs will be the Eagles first Victorian-based opponent for season 2008.
- If selected, Eagle duo Andrew Embley and Daniel Kerr will each record their 150th career AFL game.