Preview: Dockers v Bulldogs

VENUE & TIME: Subiaco, 4.40pm, Sunday, 18 May

HEAD TO HEAD: Played: 16, Fremantle 7, Western Bulldogs 9

LAST TIME: Western Bulldogs 22.9 (141) def Fremantle 16.19 (115), Round 12, 2007 at Marrara Oval

WALKING WOUNDED: Des Headland (knee) has been ruled out for a couple of months and can join long-term casualties Paul Haselby (knee) and Luke Webster (knee) cutting up oranges. Luke McPharlin (buttock) missed the Hall of Fame clash due to injury, but could play this weekend. He'll join Antoni Grover (thigh) and Roger Hayden (hamstring) in a group trying to prove their fitness for the Dockers. No such worries for the high-flying Doggies with Scott West's dodgy knee the only concern. He'll be tested but is more likely than not to make the trip west.

FORM: Fremantle's last start was a nightmare for all involved with the club as it let a 51-point margin be erased by lowly Melbourne at the MCG. The Bulldogs on the other hand were full of pace and punch in their most impressive win of the year to date, an 18-point victory over the Swans in Sydney.

WHO'S HOT: Robert Murphy wasn't the most dominant player in last weekend's exhibition match at the MCG, but the fact that he pulled on the Big V says a lot about his year to date. Fourteen goals in his seven matches is a fair haul for the highly skilled 25-year-old who gives the Dogs direction and an important touch of class. Few positives to come from the Fremantle camp in Round 6 but Garrick Ibbotson kept up his 20 touches per game average against the Dees. He kicks it well, runs the line and gives the ageing Dockers life.

WE THINK: You'd be mad to tip the Dockers. Anyone who saw Mark Harvey's side fritter away a lead of eight goals against a Melbourne team which hadn't looked like winning a game all season would likely write the Dockers off for the year. But, a week earlier, they pushed the all-conquering Cats to a point in one of the games of the season. Therein lies the problem in the west. Under pressure, Fremantle will come out firing but is too easily pleased with competitive losses. The Western Bulldogs have been brilliant in the opening stages of the season and the win in Sydney had 'real deal' written all over it. Ryan Griffen, Daniel Cross and even Will Minson have improved and Rodney Eade seems in complete control. The Dogs have a touch of 2007 Cats about them - men on a mission - and this should be another 'W', even at Subiaco. Bulldogs by 27.