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A lot can happen in a fortnight, and in the last fortnight this weekend's Derby has gone from a rather less than interesting fixture to a clash of a couple of teams struggling to make a mark on the season - but with yet a chance to do so.
With bragging rights in this town backed up with a chance to set up the season for a real attack on finals, this Derby is a major event again, and could be a very hard fought affair.
Squads |
| West
Coast Ruck |
B |
Shannon Hurn (25)
|
Tom Barrass (37) |
Sam Butler (26) |
Fremantle
Ruck |
| Jonathan Giles (22) |
F |
Michael Walters (10) |
Shane Kersten (22) |
Brady Grey (28) |
Aaron Sandilands (31) |
| Luke Shuey (13) |
HB |
Brad Sheppard (5) |
Elliot Yeo (6) |
Jack Redden (8) |
Nathan Fyfe (7) |
| Sam Mitchell (1) |
HF |
Hayden Crozier (17) |
Cam McCarthy (23) |
Ed Langdon (26) |
David Mundy (16) |
| |
C |
Dominic Sheed (4) |
Matthew Priddis (11) |
Andrew Gaff (3) |
|
| |
C |
Darcey Tucker (18) |
Lachie Neale (27) |
Bradley Hill (9) |
|
| |
HF |
Kurt Mutimer (38) |
Jeremy McGovern (20) |
Mark LeCras (2) |
|
| |
HB |
Garrick Ibbottson (5) |
Michael Johnson (37) |
Connor Blakely (19) |
|
| |
F |
Josh Hill (33) |
Josh Kennedy (17) |
Jack Darling (27) |
|
| |
B |
Ethan Hughes (15) |
Joel Hamling (21) |
Lee Spurr (34) |
|
|
|
| West
Coast Interchange |
Nathan Vardy (19), Liam Duggan (14), Sharrod Wellingham (12), Chris Masten (7), |
|
|
Griffin Logue (2), Lachie Weller (14), Tom Sheridan (11), Harley Balic (24), |
Fremantle
Interchange |
Weather |
 |
Fine
Overnight Minimum:11
|
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Changes |
The Eagles have made three changes, two forced with Jamie Cripps and Jackson Nelson out with medium term injuries, while Will Schofield returns to the Royals after a couple of weeks back in the side. In their place the Eagles have recalled ruckman Jon Giles and veteran Sam Mitchell, while youngster Kurt Mutimer comes into the team for his debut.
Freo have only made one change, with Stephen Hill forced out with a hamstring injury, replaced by Harley Balic |
Injuries and Suspensions |
The Eagles had a disastrous week in both firsts and the magoos last week, with Nelson and Cripps joined by Luke Partington and promising rookie Francis Watson. With ten unavailable players - about a quarter of the squad - the Eagles are in danger of decending into the Injury God hell that blighted a number of seasons earlier in this decade.
Freo will be sad to lose Stephen Hill, and have the serial pest Hayden Ballantyne (hamstring) and the shadow of Harley Bennell (calf) unavailable for a long period. On the edges of Freo's first choice team they still have Michael Apeness (knww) and Alex Pearce (leg) unselectable. |
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Lead up |
The Eagles have yo-yoed around so far this year, with massively disappointing MCG results sandwiching a very solid win over the Swine in the middle. The Eagles will be extremely unhappy to have come away with losing both MCG games, and haven't really got into any real stride yet this year.
Freo have come back with three narrow wins - the last two in the final couple of minutes of the match. Certainly they've got momentum on their side, but it could so easily have been 1-4 or even 0-5 - but it's not, and Freo will be looking to capitalise with another win. |
Matchups |
Jon Giles has been recalled to the team after the Eagles were decimated in the ruck last week in his absence - by no means the only reason, but one of many for last week's disastrous performance. He'll be hoping to quell the influence of man-mountain Aaron Sandilands who's been in pretty solid form again this year for Fremantle.
The Eagles midfield has struggled - really for years - to get into high gear, and while Kurt Mutimer brings in added speed, you can't expect much from a debutant, and if the recall of Sam Mitchell is welcome, it's not an injection of speed. Luke Shuey's been in reasonable form and is fast becoming the most dangerous Eagle, but he'll need a lot of assistance to really have the influence he is capable of. |
Recent Meetings
|
| The Eagles have won the last three Derbies, which has been a nice turnaround from the six successive losses that preceded it. With the Derby ratio now sitting 24-20 in favour of West Coast, it's always nice to get wins on the board. |
| 2016, Round 20 |
Subiaco Oval |
| West Coast |
|
2.2 |
|
7.5 |
|
12.7 |
|
17.8 (110) |
| Fremantle |
|
3.2 |
|
5.6 |
|
7.7 |
|
9.10 (64) |
| Sun 7th Aug 2016 |
West Coast by 46 |
| 2016, Round 3 |
Subiaco Oval |
| West Coast |
|
2.1 |
|
4.7 |
|
7.11 |
|
12.20 (92) |
| Fremantle |
|
3.3 |
|
3.7 |
|
4.10 |
|
8.11 (59) |
| Sat 9th Apr 2016 |
West Coast by 33 |
| 2015, Round 20 |
Subiaco Oval |
| West Coast |
|
7.2 |
|
8.7 |
|
11.12 |
|
15.14 (104) |
| Fremantle |
|
1.3 |
|
2.6 |
|
5.10 |
|
11.14 (80) |
| Sun 16th Aug 2015 |
West Coast by 24 |
| 2015, Round 3 |
Subiaco Oval |
| Fremantle |
|
9.2 |
|
14.5 |
|
16.7 |
|
17.9 (111) |
| West Coast |
|
0.4 |
|
3.5 |
|
6.7 |
|
12.9 (81) |
| Sun 19th Apr 2015 |
Fremantle by 30 |
|
Head to Head |
| Overall: |
|
West Coast |
24 |
|
Fremantle |
20 |
|
Draws |
0 |
| At Subiaco Oval |
|
West Coast |
24 |
|
Fremantle |
20 |
|
Draws |
0 |
| West Coast biggest win: |
117 points; West Coast 28.10 (178) d Fremantle 9.7 (61) at Subiaco Oval, 2000, Round 6 |
| Fremantle biggest win: |
75 points; Fremantle 24.16 (160) d West Coast 13.7 (85) at Subiaco Oval, 2010, Round 18 |
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Summary |
Freo have won the last two weeks with the last goal of the game, and with that will have confidence sky high. The Eagles on the other hand will come in smarting from losing to the bottom side in a canter, and should be fired up to make that performance history.
If this was any other two teams, you'd select the Eagles based on what would appear more talent on the field, but this is a Derby where anything could happen. For mine, there are a couple of likely results - the Eagles are stung back into form and win comfortably, or the Dockers prevail in a brutal and hard fought encounter. I think the former is more likely than the latter, though I'm hoping that's more head than heart telling me so. |
Prediction: West Coast by 28 points. |
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