Fremantle will close out the round when they host Essendon at Domain Stadium in a match that sees two of the more enigmatic sides in the league go head to head.
Are the Dockers and the Dons going to be good or bad teams this year? We were asking the question at the start of the season, six rounds later we’re still none the wiser.
Fremantle started the season in horrendous form but then put on three wins in a row including one over the reigning premiers, before being smacked around by West Coast last week.
Still two of those wins came by less than a goal and they could be considered lucky to have them. They’re two bad twists of fate away from being a 1-5 team.
Essendon on the other hand are clearly still going through some growing pains trying to combine their wide mix of players old and new and gel them together under a new coach.
They’ve had some good wins, and they’ve had some disappointing days. They’re 3-3 for the year as well and come into this on the back of a poor effort against Melbourne.
Fremantle have two changes – Matt Taberner and Cameron Sutcliffe are in, Griffin Logue and Tommy Sheridan have been dropped.
The Dons have made significant changes. To start with, Jobe Watson, Andrew McGrath and Ben McNiece have all been rested, while Tom Bellchambers and Ben Howlett have been dropped and Mitch Brown has an ankle injury.
Michael Hartley, Aaron Francis, James Kelly, David Myers, Matthew Leuenberger and Brent Stanton are the six inclusions.
This one is really quite a hard match to pick. Fremantle have the home ground advantage and a more settled line-up, but haven’t been all that convincing this year.
The Bombers have probably shown better skills so far, but how will big changes to the senior side effect them? Can they put it together when it counts?
In a game like this that is tricky to tip, my gut is to go with the team that offers the best value, and that is Essendon to win for $2.55.