VENUE & TIME: Subiaco, Fri August 27, 6:40pm AWST (8:40pm AEST)
HEAD TO HEAD: Played: 23, Fremantle 13, Carlton 10
LAST TIME: Fremantle 14.12 (96) d Carlton 12.15 (87), Round 13, 2010 at Etihad Stadium
LAST TIME AT VENUE: Carlton 16.19 (115) d Fremantle 15.10 (100) at Subiaco, Round 14, 2009
WALKING WOUNDED: Where do you start with the Dockers this week? Ok, well, all the blokes they rested for the Launceston debacle will all come straight back into the side. This is some serious firepower as they regain skipper Matthew Pavlich, David Mundy, Stephen Hill, Anthony Morabito, Adam McPhee, Roger Hayden and Nathan Fyfe. Along with the 'general soreness seven' as they're now known, coach Mark Harvey will definitely bring back Aaron Sandilands after he's missed the last three weeks with a foot injury. The retiring Paul Hasleby (knee), Hayden Ballantyne (foot), Ryan Crowley (knee), Alex Silvagni (groin) and Chris Mayne (ankle) are all in the selection mix as well. For the Blues, speedy forward Chris Yarran and defender Joe Anderson have travelled across to Perth as part of a 23-man squad. Officially, ruckman Shaun Hampson and tagger Aaron Joseph face fitness tests after missing last week's loss to Geelong with ankle injuries, but both those players travelled as well. Andrew Walker, Sam Jacobs and Richard Hadley were not on the flight from Melbourne on Wednesday evening, despite playing against the Cats last week. Whether they have flown earlier in the day remains to be seen.
FORM:
Fremantle's Past Five:
Round 21: Loss, 5.9 (39) - 24.11 (155) v Hawthorn, Aurora Stadium
Round 20: Loss, 13.9 (87) - 14.12 (96) v Sydney, Subiaco
Round 19: Loss, 19.9 (123) - 10.9 (69) v North Melbourne, Etihad Stadium
Round 18: Win, 24.16 (160) - 13.7 (85) v West Coast, Subiaco
Round 17: Loss, 12.4 (76) - 24.14 (158) v Western Bulldogs, Etihad Stadium
Carlton's Past Five:
Round 21: Loss, 12.7 (79) - 18.13 (121) v Geelong, Etihad Stadium
Round 20: Win, 23.18 (156) - 10.7 (67) v Richmond, MCG
Round 19: Win, 23.11 (149) - 9.19 (73) v Essendon, MCG
Round 18: Loss, 9.3 (57) - 15.15 (105) v Collingwood, MCG
Round 17: Win, 15.19 (109) - 11.17 (83) v West Coast, Subiaco
You cannot make any form judgements from B-Mantle's 116-point loss to Hawthorn considering the players that were out. However, if we go back a little further, it's interesting that, after winning eight of the first 10 games, the Dockers have only won four more since. Indeed, after first-year sensation Michael Barlow broke his leg in Round 14, Fremantle have won just two games against Melbourne and West Coast, both at Subiaco. Carlton fans shouldn't be smirking too much. Sure the Blues have won three of their last five games, but they've done so against lower teams like West Coast and Essendon, although the Richmond result wasn't a bad one. But since Round 10, the Blues have only won five matches, so their form over this period hasn't exactly been brilliant either.
WHO'S HOT: Greg Broughton and Michael Johnson tried their hearts out against the Hawks, but saying that any Docker was hot last week just isn't going to happen. For the Blues, Andrew Carrazzo did a posted 28 possessions against the Cats. More importantly, he tagged Gary Ablett out of the contest for much of last week's 42-point loss to the Cats before Gazza freed himself up in the final term to finish with 21 possessions and four goals.
WE THINK: As Mark Harvey's already said, this is the final before the finals, with the winner almost guaranteeing themselves a home match in the first week of September. If the Dockers win, then we'll more than likely be seeing Fremantle v Hawthorn in a sixth v seventh battle over in Perth, depending on the Hawks losing to Collingwood in round 22. If the Blues win and Hawthorn lose, then Carlton will earn a home final against Fremantle next weekend. The big question hanging over this game, though, is whether the Dockers can get away with possibly making 11-12 changes at selection after resting their players last weekend. Brett Ratten suggested that form's not a light bulb and it can't just be switched on, but it's not like these players have missed a month. It's just been a week and they will have all been refreshed after a few tough rounds, like the bruising Round 20 loss to Sydney. The Dockers beat Carlton by nine points in the last encounter at Etihad Stadium. In that match Matthew Kreuzer went down with a serious knee injury as Fremantle skipped away to a handy lead only to concede some junk time goals that gave the Blues some scoreboard credibility. On that night, Dockers Michael Barlow and Chris Tarrant produced some big game performances, but neither of those players will be here this time around, with Tarrant unlikely to play for Fremantle again. The Blues also kicked very poorly early on in that last encounter, so if they're to have a chance of nullifying the Dockers, they really need to put early scoreboard pressure on in front of a very noisy Subiaco crowd. To do so they'll need to nullify Sandilands' tap work and somehow free up Judd from a heavy tag Adam McPhee tag. The Blues can't allow to let Ballantyne off the leash either, as the pesky little bum pincher can turn a match in a few moments. Fremantle may be limping to the line, but maybe, just maybe, the rested seven could get them through to a home final. Dockers by 7 points