The Sydney Swans and the Western Bulldogs will meet for a second time this season to once again replay the 2016 AFL Grand Final.
This time however the match is in Sydney, and despite having only three wins so far for the year, the Swans are the early favourites.
Sydney haven’t had a great year – they started the season with six straight losses, some of them to teams they should have no business losing to before putting themselves back in the mix for an unlikely finals berth with consecutive wins over Brisbane, North Melbourne and St Kilda. They then let themselves down with a poor effort in their last start against Hawthorn, eventually going down by a goal which has likely put an end to those ambitions.
The Bulldogs on the other hand are still very much a finals fancy, and capable of clicking into gear as a flag contender before year’s end. Their form hasn’t been amazing though, they’ve won only two of their last five, including a 40-point victory over St Kilda before the bye.
Kieren Jack and Sam Naismith are in the side for the Swans this week, who have made a big call by dropping Kurt Tippett, and have also left out Oliver Florent.
The Bulldogs have dropped Bailey Williams and also have Dale Morris, Tom Boyd and Robert Murphy injured. Fletcher Roberts, Matthew Boyd, Travis Cloke and Toby McLean are their four inclusions into the side.
With neither team consistently playing their best footy and both coming in off the bye, it’s likely to be a case of whichever side fires up first will take home the points. That’s hard to predict, though it’s worth noting the Dogs have won the last four matches between these two sides, including two here at the SCG. None of those wins have been by big margins through, so it’s the Bulldogs by 1-39pts at $2.80 for us.
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