Now, let’s just put Fremantle’s last two weeks behind us and not dwell on the past… (It’s less painful this way)

The Fremantle Dockers will be coming into this game fresh off a ‘sizable defeat’ to Port Adelaide last week. The silver lining however, is that Coach Ross Lyon has made some well overdue modifications to the line-up for their clash against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.

Six big changes were confirmed this afternoon, with one inclusion into the squad being 18-year-old Griffin Logue, who will get to make his debut against the Dogs. Also included in this week’s line-up are Harley Balic, Ethan Hughes, Tommy Sheridan, Brady Grey and Hayden Crozier. One name I was a bit surprised to not see is Sam Collins. I think he would have been handy to have in the backline.

Zac Dawson, Cam Sutcliffe, Darcy Tucker, Danyle Pearce, Nick Suban and Jonathon Griffin have all been omitted. Pearce, Griffin and Matt Taberner have been named as emergencies. I’m sure I was not alone when I breathed a big sigh of relief seeing one or two of those names in particular on the omitted list…

Ross Lyon didn’t have much choice except to make some drastic changes, giving the young guys a chance to prove themselves is a great call. Even if the Fremantle Dockers don’t start winning games in the next few weeks, I feel that at least the losses won’t be for nothing. These young players just need some game experience to improve their confidence and sharpen their skills in the big league, up against the big boys.

Despite the ‘horrific event’ that was last weeks game, I think Freo will still come into round 3 with a spring in their step. During the week, Dockers superman Nat Fyfe confirmed his intentions to commit to the club, which was music to my ears, and music to the players and coaches ears as well I’m sure.

The Western Bulldogs are yet to lose a game this season, knocking over the Sydney Swans in a 2016 GF replay last week. Their flag winning form has continued where it left off a few months ago and they don’t look slowing down anytime soon. The last game the Dockers won was in the final round of last season and it just so happened to be against the Bulldogs, who then went on to win the premiership… Just saying!

Continuing on my path of tipping with my head and not my heart this season, I will tip the Western Bulldogs to beat the Fremantle Dockers by 20 points. A tip I will happily get wrong if Fremantle can get the job done!

Let us know your #AFLFreoDogs predictions at @TweetPerth @EmmaPaynes