Preview: Saints v Dockers

VENUE & TIME: Telstra Dome, 2.10pm, Saturday, August 18

HEAD TO HEAD: St Kilda: 7, Fremantle: 11

LAST TIME: Fremantle 15.11 (101) def St Kilda 6.19 (55), Round 9, 2007 at Subiaco

WALKING WOUNDED: Des Headland (hamstring) should return to bolster what now looks an impressive Fremantle midfield. So, too, should Matthew Carr (soreness) after he missed the week after the brutal derby encounter with the Eagles. St Kilda, cruelled by injury in the front half of the season, are now fine on the medical front. Michael Gardiner (foot) and Aaron Hamill (knee) both have been ruled out for the season, but there are no fresh troubles.

FORM: St Kilda went to Sydney and tried to play the Swans at their own game. However, somebody forgot to remind Ross Lyon that Sydney play like Sydney better than St Kilda can play like Sydney. In the end the Saints went down by 17 points. Fremantle made it back-to-back wins when it humbled Essendon by a tick over 10 goals.

WHO'S HOT:For the Dockers, nobody turned in a more impressive performance than Matthew Pavlich last weekend. The skipper hauled in 16 marks and booted six goals in a display that was so good the club re-signed him just days later. Luke Ball has battled a grumbling groin all season, but last week looked as free as he has done in a long while. He has played 16 games of a possible 19 this year and needs to be somewhere close to his best to help his team outgun the Fremantle midfield.

WE THINK: You can't take much from our predictions, but believe this - the loser is out of the finals race for this year. Fremantle has strung a couple of impressive wins together under the guidance of Mark Harvey. The derby triumph was a mighty confidence boost, but last week's win over Essendon was probably more important for a team famous for losing matches it shouldn't. Fremantle's defence isn't good enough to hold the powerful St Kilda forward line, but if the Dockers can win enough supply in the midfield that won't matter. The Saints are favoured to win, so Fremantle will probably do a number on Lyon's lads. Confused? Well, us too, but we're going for the Dockers on nothing more than a hunch and faith in Pavlich. Fremantle by 11 points.