SUMMARY
The 38th Western Derby promises to be one of the best.
Going by the last three weeks of form, West Coast could make a case for being the favourite given the Eagles had chances against Hawthorn and Essendon and beat Adelaide away when undermanned.
The Dockers beat North Melbourne comfortably in a dour, low-scoring affair, were exposed by Geelong and then battled to break free of a young St Kilda outfit. Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands will be better for their first run back from extended lay-offs, but the Dockers have lost Luke McPharlin, which will test their number one ranked defence against Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling, who have kicked 75 goals between them.
Incredibly, despite leading the Coleman Medal race, Josh Kennedy is not the number one ranked forward in the Eagles team on the official player ratings. That honour belongs to Josh Hill who is ranked 97th overall in the AFL. Kennedy is ranked 121st. Fremantle's highest ranked forward is Matthew Pavlich at 92.
WHERE AND WHEN
Patersons Stadium, Sunday July 14, 2.40pm
TV AND RADIO
Click here for broadcast guide and odds
LAST FIVE TIMES
R1, 2013: Fremantle 16.12 (108) d West Coast 11.14 (80) at Patersons Stadium
R19, 2012: Fremantle 17.11 (113) d West Coast 6.12 (48) at Patersons Stadium
R9, 2012: West Coast 11.18 (84) d Fremantle 5.6 (36) at Patersons Stadium
R18, 2011: West Coast 8.17 (65) d Fremantle 9.10 (64) at Patersons Stadium
R8, 2011: West Coast 14.12 (96) d Fremantle 9.9 (63) at Patersons Stadium
THE SIX POINTS
1. This will be the 38th clash between the sides and West Coast holds the advantage winning 21 games to 16.
2. After the Eagles won 17 of the first 22 contests from 1995-2005 the Dockers have been the better side since, winning 11 of the last 15.
3. West Coast has struggled to score against Fremantle recently, failing to kick 100 points in each of the last 12 contests.
4. Fremantle remains the number one ranked defence this season, conceding only 68-points per game. West Coast is ranked 12th with 91 per game.
5. West Coast has been a strong clearance team this season, ranked third in the AFL averaging 40.6 per game. Fremantle is ranked ninth, averaging 37.7 per game.
6. It will be an interesting ruck contest on Sunday. Nic Naitanui (10) and Dean Cox (95) are the first and seventh ranked ruckman in the Official AFL Player Ratings. Zac Clarke (276) and Aaron Sandilands (326) are the 19th and 21st ranked ruckmen.
