
Saturday night will see the Western Bulldogs take on North Melbourne in a game where the winner will keep their chances at a home final alive. The Bulldogs are coming off a gallant loss to Geelong last Friday, losing another two important players to injury as their numbers continue to dwindle. North meanwhile secured their spot in the top eight, holding off St Kilda in Brent Harvey’s milestone game.
The Roos have a few wins in a row under their belt, but neither team is coming into this game in great form. North have struggled against the top eight this season with their last victory coming in round six, ironically, against the Western Bulldogs. North do have a good record historically against the Bulldogs, beating them in six of their past eight encounters. As for their opponents, the Dogs have lost their last two games thanks in part to mid-game injuries that have derailed their season. Even undermanned, they pushed Geelong to the brink and they’ll need to get back to their overlapping speedy run if they’re going to beat North.
Team changes:
Tom Liberatore and Jack Macrae come out of the side injured at a very inopportune time and they’re joined by Jed Adcock and Koby Stevens who have been omitted. North Melbourne don’t have a great deal of midfield depth themselves and losing their two key stars in that area will seriously hurt the Dogs’ chances of winning. Dale Morris and Matthew Boyd are welcome inclusions into the side after missing last week. Nathan Hrovat and Lukas Webb also come in.
As for North Melbourne, they lose Jarrad Waite again to a hip injury as the ageing forward begins to show the issues that plagued his career at Carlton. Majak Daw replaces him after kicking four goals in the VFL for Werribee on the weekend.
What the bookies say:
North Melbourne will come into the game as the betting favourite, with the Bulldogs’ injury woes probably playing the biggest part in that. At full strength, you’d probably back the Dogs right now and even now, they’re certainly not out of it. The Kangaroos’ inability to defeat the top sides is the biggest question here and they will need to topple this depleted Bulldogs line-up to validate their finals aspirations.