Fremantle will look to make it three wins in a row when they take on North Melbourne at home on Saturday night.
After being pretty poor in Round 1 and then atrocious in Round 2, the Dockers have really improved over the past fortnight taking wins against the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne.
Their match against the Demons in particular was an absolute thriller with Cam McCarthy in his fourth game for the club booting the match-winning goal.
North Melbourne on the other hand have started the season with four consecutive losses, but that doesn’t tell the full story.
Two of those losses have been by less than a goal – against Geelong in Round 2 and the Western Bulldogs on Good Friday last week.
They’ve generally played good football for most of their games but as a young team have had a few average patches here and there that have cost them wins.
That being the case you’d expect them to be a real chance against Fremantle this week – it’s the first time this season they’ll play a side who wasn’t one of last year’s finalists.
However given they have the home ground advantage and two wins on the trot, the Dockers are going in as the favourites.
They’ve made only one change – Harley Balic will miss with a hip injury, Darcy Tucker is in as his replacement.
North Melbourne have a debutant with Ed Vickers-Willis named in their backline, and are also bringing back Mason Wood from injury – Braydon Preuss and Nathan Hrovat make way.
All in all this is a hard match to pick, and while it’s hard to tip with confidence it’s fair to say North to win at $2.45 offers the greater value.
Cam McCarthy has had plenty of shots this year but only kicked 5.9 for Fremantle – if he tidies up his accuracy he could have a good day against North’s leaky backline, $3.30 to kick four could be worth a flyer.