VENUE & TIME: Subiaco Oval, Sunday 21 June, 4.40pm (AEST)
HEAD TO HEAD: Played: 22, Fremantle 6, Geelong 16
LAST TIME: Geelong 18.10 (118) def Fremantle 6.8 (44), Round 15, 2008 at Skilled Stadium
WALKING WOUNDED: Several Cats are under injury clouds for their second trip to Perth in as many rounds. Following the club's lacklustre win over West Coast, Geelong coach Mark Thompson said skipper Tom Harley (hamstring), Max Rooke (concussion), Harry Taylor (ankle) and Joel Corey (foot) should all be available for this Sunday's game, having had the luxury of a week's break due to the split round. Of that foursome, Rooke seems the most likely to play this weekend as he apparently came close to making the trip west last time. However, it remains uncertain whether Thompson will risk the three players with soft-tissue injuries on the long Subiaco ground following a four-hour flight.
The fortnight's break will have certainly helped the Dockers following a horror injury run over the past month. Following the brutal loss to Richmond, the club was forced to field two debutants in Clancee Pearce and Michael Walters against Port Adelaide in its last round. But with a fortnight under their belts, senior Dockers Luke McPharlin (hip) and Antoni Grover (calf) should return to the side having trained strongly last Tuesday while Michael Johnson (ankle) and Des Headland's (quad) will need another week. Exciting youngsters Hayden Ballantyne (back) and Clayton Hinkley (shoulder) will also be in contention after training injuries forced them out of the Port game, while forward Adam Campbell will be tested after being heavily concussed during that match.
FORM: Geelong's 22-point win over West Coast before the split round was hardly anything to write home about. The Cats produced a blistering first 14 minutes, scoring five goals to zip but after then went into holiday mode big time. Despite dominating the competition for much of the season, Geelong lairised with the ball, gave up possession and looked like remarkably tame kittens as West Coast closed to within three points before the real Cats poked their heads up for five minutes and won it.
Despite their injury run, the Dockers gave a good account of themselves at AAMI Stadium before losing by 24 points to Port. Fremantle was narrowly ahead at half-time but as the rain set in from then on, the Power produced the goods in the wet to claim the four points.
WHO'S HOT: Gary Ablett may have picked up 43 touches against the Eagles but those possessions were a shadow of what he's capable of and 10 of them were dinky little kicks across defence in the final quarter. As a result, the 'Who's Hot' vote is heading to somewhat maligned forward Tom Hawkins, who is starting to show why he was so highly rated two years ago. Hawkins only scored the three goals but he attacked the contest with verve and claimed a massive pack mark to goal from the square at an important time.
For the Dockers, Paul Duffield continues to improve as a tough, rebounding half-back, getting lots of possession. Duffield may not be the greatest disposer of the ball, but his kicking is improving and he always gives 100 percent.
WE THINK: Geelong has the best winning percentage of any club against Fremantle and one can only see that getting marginally better after this weekend. Both sides have the benefit of a week's break but the Cats should be better for it, having recharged their batteries for another tilt at the premiership while many Dockers players spent the fortnight in physio waiting rooms. Although the Cats were well below their best against West Coast, they will be keen to put that behind them and set the tone for the last 10 weeks with a big win over an injury-hit Fremantle. The Cats won't have it all their own way as Aaron Sandilands should dominate Geelong's second-string ruck division of Shane Mumford and Mark Blake. But while the battle for Sandilands' scraps will be intense between Paul Hasleby and Joel Selwood, the Cats have the class all round the ground to get the job more than effectively done. Cats by 40 points.