Where and when: Marvel Stadium, Saturday March 23, 7:25pm
Last time they met: Marvel Stadium, round four, 2018: Western Bulldogs 11.13 (79) lost to Sydney 13.8 (86)
Oliver Florent announced himself with a daring run and goal under severe pressure to seal a thrilling win for the Swans. Lance Franklin was pivotal in a fiery match that started with a bang, as the Dogs targeted Dan Hannebery and Josh Kennedy pre-bounce.
What it means for the Western Bulldogs: An 82-point loss to GWS in the opening round last season demoralised the Dogs and another belting at the hands of West Coast a week later all but sapped any remaining hopes. They simply have to set the right tone in 2019.
What it means for Sydney: It’s strange to say a club that has made finals nine seasons in a row has a point to prove, but many are predicting the demise of this group of Swans. Extra motivation?
How the Western Bulldogs win: Star midfielder Jack Macrae and co need to control proceedings from the stoppages. Winning the ball was a strength in 2018, ranking third for disposals.
How Sydney wins: A forward line with tall options facing an undersized backline could be too potent under the roof at Marvel Stadium. Callum Sinclair, Sam Reid, Will Hayward and Aliir Aliir all pose an aerial threat, not to mention Lance Franklin if fit.
The stat: Significant personnel from the 2016 Grand Final match-up will be missing on Saturday night. Jason Johannisen (ankle), Tom Boyd (back) and Liam Picken (concussion) all featured in Norm Smith voting and are unavailable. Josh Kennedy is the only vote-getter on the day who is expected to play.
The match-up: Tom Liberatore v Luke Parker
The Bulldogs’ returning midfielder and Sydney star, who were taken with consecutive picks in the 2010 National Draft, shape as defining factors. Both sides struggled to score last season and first use under the new rules appears to be as important as ever.
It’s a big week for: Aaron Naughton
The Dogs’ talented swingman could be asked to curtail a Swans tall in defence in the absence of Dale Morris or provide a desperately needed target forward. Either way, there is likely to be a lot of responsibility on his second-year shoulders.
Thommo’s Tip: Sydney by 6 points.
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NO LATE CHANGES
FINAL INTERCHANGES
Western Bulldogs: Josh Schache, Taylor Duryea, Ed Richards, Tory Dickson
Sydney: Ryan Clarke, Oliver Florent, Jordan Dawson, Aliir Aliir
Who scores more tonight?
T/U Macrea
T/D Heeney
Macrae average vs Sydney: 86.6
Last 3: 103, 98, 123
Heeney average vs Bulldogs: 94.7†
Last 3: 120, 131, 33
† If you take out the 33, that goes up to 125.5
going on RD1 games to date then, you can throw past form out the window … has to be Macrae!
One player that did look seriously good in JLT!
And I don’t have him 🙁
#strangedays
Apologies to anybody who made any captaincy choices based on my post.
That SCG surface has already claimed a player , Suckling , 4 codes using 1 ground is a recipe for disaster , i wouldnt want to play on it
oops its @ etihad , the 2nd worse surface , a bit firmer but a hell of a lot slipperier
Horse loves to troll us. All this talk of Mills and Heeney in the middle. Heeney is deepest forward and Mills has barely been out of defensive 50.
Scores at half?
fanfootydotcomdotau john live scores every game
Will do 3/4 qtr time scores. Usuals are doing well, Hunter the highlight.
Yeah cheers.. i live o/s but love supercoach. But not payin to see scores ffs..
Not necessarily SC relevant but gee Daniel Lloyd is good. Better than the other Lloyd who is!
So Easton Wood has kept Buddy to just two touches and sits on just 3 SC pts.
Having an outstanding game, but spoils and pressure count for nothing it seems!
Meanwhile Jake Lloyd, who’s had two positive influences (from what I’ve seen) on the game, sits on 88!!
Everyone knows how I feel about Jake Lloyd and SC scoring, but this is beyond a joke. The Doggies are killing it!
i had him last year & your right , many games , i enjoyed watching his score going up & up , didn’t seem to be outstanding in those games either , your indifferent if you own him & i got him cheap which was even better last yr , he doesn’t have many clangers though , lots of little 1-2’s like ablett used to do , not too many hard ball gets last year either
Thay’s why I started with Lloyd. I’m enjoying his scoring tonight!
Doggies look like they’ve had a hard pre season , it might be the jumpers , but to me , they look like the biggest & strongest doggies team i have seen in a decade
3Q TIME
Western Bulldogs : 9.14.68
Lachie Hunter 101
M. Bontempelli 101
Jack Macrae 101
Mitch Wallis 97
Josh Dunkley 92
Sam Lloyd 73
Toby McLean 72
Tom Liberatore 68
Aaron Naughton 68
Matt Suckling 68
Billy Gowers 64
Taylor Duryea 57
Tim English 56
Ed Richards 47
Caleb Daniel 46
Zaine Cordy 43
Bailey Smith 41
Josh Schache 38
Bailey Williams 36
Tory Dickson 35
Hayden Crozier 34
Easton Wood 12
Sydney Swans: 5.6.36
Jake Lloyd 90
Tom Papley 82
Callum Sinclair 77
Jarrad McVeigh 75
Luke Parker 66
Callum Mills 65
Harry Cunningham 64
Dane Rampe 63
Josh P. Kennedy 62
Aliir Aliir 54
Isaac Heeney 52
Heath Grundy 52
George Hewett 50
Oliver Florent 49
Zak Jones 47
Will Hayward 40
Ryan Clarke 39
Sam Reid 38
Nick Blakey 38
Lewis Melican 32
Jordan Dawson 29
Lance Franklin 10
still 850 SC pts up for grabs!
that’s c. 40+/player for the good ‘uns!
good luck 😉
will post FINAL scores later
Lloyd irritates me – how he can score so well yet frankly be an ineffective player. He doesn’t intercept, he doesn’t defend, he’s not damaging; all he does is kick to kick in the back 50 or long kicks down the line. Bit of sour grapes but average player
yep, disgusting thing is, he only has a couple more possessions than Macrae, but less tackles and only 2 CPs to 10 … but he is outscoring him. His DE though is rated at 86 to Macrae’s 72 – so that must be it.
Anyone a little concerned Macrae also playing a lot of outside mid … not as much in the middle as last year thus far …
he’s also got a much higher kick to handball ratio … and as noted his kicks are very easy, not under pressure … here come the Swans – doggies look like they are running in quicksand!
It’s supercoach Jimmy possessions and kicks are king
You should have played a few games Jimmy then you’d understand the importance of a defender in the clear who can take a mark or receive a handball when your team is being bombarded. Without Lloyd the swans would have lost by 10 goals
You’re very presumptuous, David. I assume you’re a dickhead.
Oh that was ironic…
dont know why the swans keep butting Buddy on the park when he’s not 100% , the hawks rarely did , i guess thats the difference between Clarco & the rest
I’m calling it PJ.
Sydney got Buddy and his $1000000+ contract.
The Hawks got a late first round draft pick.
The Hawks won the Franklin free agency deal.
yeh when you look @ it , Buddys only really good season was when he kicked 100 for the hawks in 08 & won the GF , but he had the best midfield drilling it down his throat every time he led out , he’s still handy , draws the best defender & kills it on the odd game , but yeh , the hawks won that deal , he had to go though , any one would have for that much cash
What did the Hawks do with that draft pick?
someones tagging Mcrae , hasn’t touched it this Q
he has actually been touching it and not getting paid any stats … he had 2 or 3 out on the wing earlier in the quarter and he received nothing (watching closely on the scores and TV) – so, maybe no longer a fav of CD??!!
as we all know though , SC is not about the best players , its about the best scorers
As a Man City fan back in the early 80s, we used to call Ray ‘Butch’ Wilkins “the Crab”. Why? He did nothing but pass it sideways. He also played for Man Utd and nearly 100 games for England. No wonder England were crap back then.
I’m calling Jake Lloyd “THE CRAB” 😉
very rare to find a fellow man city supporter , nice one allsaints
I think the AFL fantasy guys call him the seagull because he racks up trash possessions.
Must face the wing all game cos he’s one of the best metres gained players in the league. Also the Swans seem to like his junk possession since they gave him a b&f for it. Funny how our owners goggles can change our perspective on players.
I reckon the role Lloyd plays at the Swans is D1
Just waiting for final SC scores. Still 50 pts to allocate!
FULL-TIME
still 40 pts to be allocated
Western Bulldogs : 11.16.82
M. Bontempelli 156
Jack Macrae 131
Lachie Hunter 104
Caleb Daniel 104
Sam Lloyd 97
Mitch Wallis 95
Josh Dunkley 95
Toby McLean 94
Aaron Naughton 87
Matt Suckling 80
Tom Liberatore 72
Taylor Duryea 62
Billy Gowers 61
Tim English 60
Zaine Cordy 54
Ed Richards 51
Josh Schache 45
Hayden Crozier 41
Bailey Williams 40
Tory Dickson 35
Bailey Smith 33
Easton Wood 11
Sydney Swans: 9.11.65
Jake Lloyd 130
Callum Sinclair 98
Josh P. Kennedy 93
Harry Cunningham 91
George Hewett 88
Luke Parker 86
Tom Papley 86
Zak Jones 85
Jarrad McVeigh 85
Dane Rampe 84
Isaac Heeney* 82
Aliir Aliir 79
Callum Mills 75
Oliver Florent 70
Ryan Clarke 62
Sam Reid 58
Heath Grundy 55
Lance Franklin 53
Lewis Melican 53
Will Hayward 46
Nick Blakey 45
Jordan Dawson 41
Bont was my main POD and very happy to start with considering some of my other round 1 mistakes!
Happy bulldogs fan tonight!
very happy too. I put the C on the Bont tonight in my TECHTeam, after having the VC on Treloar (107?). Bit of a risk, but paid in spades!
That makes two of us 🙂
All those ‘out there’ picks looking good. Sheed is on 97 middle of the third!
Not ‘out there picks’ if you pick your team based on form instead forum popularity
fair call mate.
had sheed in my team for 2 months , took him out for libba , want to see what he scores with gaff back in the team b4 i commit
the ONLY reason i didn’t start him. but if he keeps going like this … don’t think they’ll drop Masten but who knows!?
Did the same….
FINAL SC SCORES
Western Bulldogs : 11.16.82
M. Bontempelli 158
Jack Macrae 132
Lachie Hunter 104
Caleb Daniel 104
Josh Dunkley 98
Mitch Wallis 96
Sam Lloyd 96
Toby McLean 95
Aaron Naughton 90
Matt Suckling 85
Tom Liberatore 75
Taylor Duryea 62
Billy Gowers 61
Tim English 61
Zaine Cordy 54
Ed Richards 51
Josh Schache 45
Hayden Crozier 42
Bailey Williams 40
Tory Dickson 36
Bailey Smith 33
Easton Wood 16
Sydney Swans: 9.11.65
Jake Lloyd 131
Callum Sinclair 99
Josh P. Kennedy 94
Harry Cunningham 91
Luke Parker 86
Zak Jones 85
Isaac Heeney* 85
Jarrad McVeigh 85
Aliir Aliir 83
Callum Mills 79
Oliver Florent 70
Ryan Clarke 63
Lance Franklin 55
Heath Grundy 55
Sam Reid 54
Lewis Melican 53
Will Hayward 47
Nick Blakey 46
Jordan Dawson 41
Why did my conciliatory/explanatory post get deleted? You blokes are as bad as the liberals with your attempts to demonise minorities. I’m so sorry for not being a typical white yobbo. Is that better?
Don’t think they moderate posts here, but I could be wrong. Are you sure it submitted properly? Perhaps it was an ID-10-T PEBCAC error (problem exists between computer and chair).
I haven’t moderated any comments from you, David. There’s no offensive language in there so I see no reason to delete anything.
I will say this though…….we’re all here to help each other out. To start talking like the season is over after only six games is not helping anyone. Relax, take a deep breath and we’ll see how results look after 6-8 weeks……..
Ive had comments go missing in the past as well as some other people, which were strictly football questions. It just happens sometimes. Can be annoying when you’ve typed up an essay type of question or theory an it goes missing. It’s rare, but I remember it happening to me twice.