Western Bulldogs vs Port Adelaide - Darwin - Saturday Night
Bulldogs 5th 9-6 - 131.69%
Port Adelaide 14th - 5-10 -79.00%
For probably the first time since their NAB Cup triumph the Bulldogs demonstrated the kind of form that saw them sweep to premiership favouritism as they smashed Carlton by 68 points at Etihad Stadium last sunday.
For Port Adelaide an era came to end with Mark Williams coaching the Power for the last time in a gallant 26 point loss to Collingwood.
However that performance in many ways was a blight on the club given two and a half years of ineptitude since the embarrassment of the 2007 Grand Final had led Choco to fall on his sword.
To see Port Adelaide storm to a six goal lead mid way through the second term leaves you scratching your head as to why it took such an announcement to see the club play with flair, confidence and passion.
Within 15 minutes though, the real Port Adelaide had returned, as they surrended the lead by half time in a meek rollover so common with this team since 2007.
They are currently in the midst of the worst losing streak in the club's history, and that eight game run is likely to extend to nine against a rejuvenated Bulldogs.
The Doggies biggest problem this year has been consistency, not just in terms of output but also in settling the group.
The forward line has injury and form concerns but last week functioned as well as it had all year, admittedly with little pressure from the Blues.
Barry Hall has added 54 goals this year, but the concern is that Johnson, Hahn, Akermanis, Giansiracusa, Higgins and Murphy have kicked 68 less goals then at the same time last year.
Collectively the midfield is down 12 goals on this time last year as well.
That is a huge discrepancy over the period of a season.
This does suggest light at the end of the tunnel for the doggies however.
Johnson and Hahn are battling form and fitness, but Higgins, Murphy and Gia seem to be finding form, and Aker is a week or two away from resuming.
If they get everyone up and firing and they sneak into the top four, they can still challenge for their second flag in 2010.
Last week they slaughtered Carlton on the turn over, and this week they face a Port Adelaide side that ranks 15th for kicking efficiency, so they will be preying on the errors that inevitably come against the Power, and expect them to slice them up on the large Mawarra ground.
The Bulldogs are the best team in the comp at using the corridor, with 54% of their scores coming from the centre of the ground, so Port need to apply pressure and guard space as much as possible.
Jay Schulz should return to the fold for Port Adelaide and he was in good touch prior to missing last week, he must not only hit the scoreboard, but also try to keep Brian Lake accountable as the Doggies will try to free him as much as possible.
Ebert and Motlop kicked six between them last week, and will need a similar output this time.
The Bulldogs will miss Barry Hall, Akermanis and Hahn from their attack, with Brad Johnson touch and go, so that's a lot of offensive power out of the side.
Port are not great defensively, but they won't have to contend with a fully functioning Bulldogs forward line on Saturday night and if they can bottle the game up, they can keep themselves in it for a long time.
Salopek, Boak, Cassisi and Kane Cornes will have their work cut out against a Bulldogs side that has won it's clearance count convincingly over the past five weeks.
Boyd, Cooney and Griffen were as good as they've been all year last week and should prove to strong again.
Matthew Primus will be taking the reigns for the first time as coach of Port in what he hopes is a seven week audition that nets him the top job permanently.
There is an age old theory that teams win the week after a coaching change, but the stats show that's about a 55% strike rate which isn't a hugely compelling argument.
Port have talent, and if they play with commitment they can be dangerous, expect that this Saturday night, but it doesn't take much to bring out the true colours of the boys from Alberton, and expect the Bulldogs to expose that gradually over the course of the night.
There is too much at stake for them this week, with top four prospects alive and well and they will win their second game in a row and set up a blockbuster with Fremantle next week.
Bulldogs by 29 points
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