When my two favourite teams play each other it is always a win/win in my books!
Fremantle Dockers suffered defeat at the hands of their ultimate rivals, the Eagles, last week in the derby. *sob* Fremantle had a good first half though, and showed some promising signs with defensive pressure and intensity around the ground. As many expected, West Coast overran Fremantle in the second half and ended up winning by a convincing 46 points.
On paper, the Crows will have all the answers against a young Fremantle side however, anything can happen at Domain! The Dockers have some helpful inclusions this week, particularly in Connor Blakely. He was dropped from the side a couple of weeks ago which came as a great surprise to me. I would have thought there were couple of other underperforming players who could have been dropped instead… Never mind- he is back now and think he will fire up against the Crows to ensure he stays in the side for the remainder of the season.
Matt Taberner also comes into the side, which could be the difference for Freo’s forward line. Taberner has been improving throughout the season with his marking and aggression to the ball, and he is generally pretty accurate in front of goal. Standing at 198cm (6’6”), it will be good for Fremantle to have some extra height in their forward line. Speaking of height, Aaron Sandilands will play his second game back this week, no doubt matching up on Adelaide’s Scott Thompson, who has returned for the Crows.
Freo defender Sam Collins got 7 goals kicked on him last week however, I have high hopes for this kid. He was apparently left on a damaging Josh Kennedy last week for ‘experience’ so I hope Ross Lyon’s plan pays off. Fremantle will need all the help they can get in defence this week against the likes of an in-form Eddies Betts, Tom Lynch and the big Tex Walker. Lyon may even consider putting Taberner down back to add some height to the Silvagni/Ibbotson/Spurr outfit.
I think it could be a big a big week for Fremantle Dockers legend Matthew Pavlich. It is nearing the end of his AFL career and I think he will want to make the most of the short time he has left, especially in front of a home crowd. He has kicked 697 goals in his career and I am sure he will want to bring it up to the 700 mark. If/when he does, he will become the 22nd player in VFL/AFL history to reach this milestone. Go the Pav!
I am hoping this game will be a good one and not a blow-out, so am tipping Adelaide Crows to beat the Fremantle Dockers by 15 points.
The Crows have always been my second favourite team, so with the Dockers out of finals contention, I will be backing Adelaide to win the flag!
Let us know you #AFLFreoCrows predictions at @TweetPerth @EmmaLianaPayne
