VENUE & TIME: Etihad Stadium, Saturday 28 July, 7:10pm (AEST)
HEAD TO HEAD: Played: 149: Western Bulldogs 59, Essendon 88
LAST TIME: Essendon 15.9 (99) d Western Bulldogs 14.6 (90) at Etihad Stadium, Round 10, 2010
LAST TIME AT VENUE: As above
WALKING WOUNDED: The Dogs have been rocked by season-ending injuries to Adam Cooney (hamstring) and Dale Morris (factured vertebrae) which have effectively ruled them out of premiership contention. Added to that, forward Brad Johnson (achilles) will be sidelined for a fortnight along with Shaun Higgins (illness), while Barry Hall (corked thigh) and All-Australian defender Brian Lake (conjunctivitus) missed training sessions during the week. Rodney Eade may be ruing the sacking of Jason Akermanis right about now but said, after a heated training session during the week, that Andrejs Everitt, Jordan Roughead, Will Minson, Josh Hill and Dylan Addison would all be considered, having performed well at VFL level. The Bombers have nothing to play for and a host of players that will play no further part this season: Darcy Daniher (adductor), Alwyn Davey (arm), Ricky Dyson (knee), Scott Gumbleton (ribs), Jason Laycock (foot), Nathan Lovett-Murray (back), Tayte Pears (pancreas), Andrew Welsh (groin), Mark Williams (ankle) and David Zaharakis (knee) are all out. Captain Jobe Watson (ankle), Jason Winderlich (hand) and Bachar Houli (knee) will all be tested and could line up.
FORM:
Western Bulldogs past five:
Round 21: Loss, 10.10 (70) - 17.12 (114) v Sydney, SCG
Round 20: Loss, 9.6 (60) - 25.11 (161) v Geelong, Etihad Stadium
Round 19: Win, 8.13 (61) - 7.11 (53) v Adelaide, AAMI Stadium
Round 18: Win, 22.11 (143) - 10.12 (72) v North Melbourne, Etihad Stadium
Round 17: Win, 24.14 (158) - 12.4 (76) v Fremantle, Etihad Stadium
Essendon past five:
Round 21: Loss, 10.8 (68) - 14.11 (95) v Brisbane, Etihad Stadium
Round 20: Loss, 10.4 (64) - 24.18 (162) v Collingwood, MCG
Round 19: Loss, 9.19 (73) - 23.11 (149) v Carlton, MCG
Round 18: Win, 16.12 (108) – 11.9 (75) v St Kilda, Etihad Stadium
Round 17: Win, 18.14 (122) – 18.11 (119) v North Melbourne, Etihad Stadium
The Bulldogs have already sealed fourth spot and a qualifying final meeting with first-placed Collingwood awaits, but they are stammering badly. Key injuries and a collective bout of the flu have contributed to huge losses at the hands of Geelong (101 points) and Sydney (44) in the past fortnight as they limp meekly into the finals. Essendon is far from an imposing opposition though. After a good couple of weeks in Rounds 17-18, that saw the Bombers post wins over North Melbourne and St Kilda, the Dons have returned to old habits. Huge losses to Carlton (76), Collingwood (98) and last week to lowly Brisbane (27) have left them with just one remaining chance to atone for a bitterly disappointing season.
WHO'S HOT: Unfortunately for the Dogs Matthew Boyd has been the talisman in recent weeks despite back-to-back losses. He won't be out on the park against the Dons but helped himself to 24 touches last week as the Swans strangled the life out of the Bulldogs and kept them to just 256 for the game. He was also the leading possession getter in the Cats' 101-point hammering against the Dogs a fortnight ago. Precious little for Essendon in terms of good form but Leroy Jetta showed glimpses last week as he picked up 26 disposals, laid four tackles and delivered the ball inside 50 on eight occasions in the loss to Brisbane.
WE THINK: Well, the embattled Dogs simply have to respond this week, after receiving a timely 'rocket' from coach Rodney Eade at a wind-swept Whitten Oval during the week. Despite limping into this one, they need to regain some confidence heading into their clash with the Pies. With Matthew Boyd, Adam Cooney and Brad Johnson out, the Bulldogs may opt to rest Hall and Hudson as well with an eye on next week's final. Needless to say though, it's been a tough week on the track for the Bulldogs. Still, the Dons are truly terrible and lost comfortably to a Brisbane Lions side last week that had won just two of their previous 16 games. Essendon have plenty of injury worries as well and there's no reason to risk them here, the question is will this be Matthew Knights' last game as coach? Western Bulldogs by 13 points.