Fremantle and Collingwood close out Round 11 at Domain Stadium, with the pair both looking to push their finals credentials with a win.
Fremantle are 6-4 and you’d say a side with that kind of record shouldn’t feel too much pressure, but they certainly will be after copping a 100 point loss last week.
They went on a golden run from Round 3-9, winning six of seven games, but half of those wins came by less than a goal and many were unconvinced.
They are still on the edge of finals, sitting in eighth, but they have the worst percentage of any team in the top eight.
In fact, their percentage of 81.5 is the 15th worst in the league, a long way from where any club wants to be.
What better reflects the quality of this team – their win-loss, or their percentage? Dockers fans will be hoping it’s the former, and have a chance to prove it against the Pies.
Collingwood themselves have had some good wins but have a bad habit of letting themselves down against lesser opponents.
Last week was a rare thing – a game where they were comfortably the favourites, went in, got the job done, no complications.
Admittedly, it was against Brisbane, which is no huge thing, but with two wins in a row they’re now starting to build momentum, and at 4-6 can still dream of finals footy.
Fremantle have Aaron Sandilands and Ed Langdon back this weekend, and they’re also going to toss a debut to Luke Ryan.
Garrick Ibbotson, Danyle Pearce and Jon Griffin are all out, signalling Ross Lyon’s growing faith in his younger players.
Collingwood have Jackson Ramsay and Ben Crocker into the side – Jarryd Blair has been dropped, and Alex Fasolo is unavailable.
Collingwood haven’t beaten Fremantle in Perth since 2011, that said, they have only played the Dockers there twice in that time.
Still, the home ground advantage, and the changes, seem to nudge things in the direction of the Dockers – look at them to bounce back and win by 1-39 for $2.30.