Presenting all you need to know about the Bulldogs ahead of the big Friday night clash at Etihad Stadium
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The Bulldogs started their season in inglorious fashion, suffering an 82-point loss to Greater Western Sydney in round one and a 51-point loss to West Coast in round two.
They've won four of their seven games since then, although their three-match winning streak came to an end last Friday night at the hands of Crows in a wet and wild clash at Adelaide Oval.
The Dogs have won their past five matches against Collingwood by an average of just 13 points. The Pies, on the other hand, have won their past three matches at Etihad Stadium and four of their past five.
In an intriguing quirk, the Bulldogs and Pies last met way back in round one, 2017. (Read an excerpt from AFL.com.au's match report from that game at the bottom of this story)
Team news
AFL.com.au filed this report on Monday:
Premiership forward Tory Dickson could return from a hamstring injury for the Western Bulldogs' clash with Collingwood at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
The 30-year-old sustained the mid-grade strain in the round five loss to Fremantle, and would be a welcome addition to a side that struggled to hit scoreboard in the 37-point defeat to Adelaide last week.
In further good news for the Bulldogs, veteran stopper Dale Morris (knee) and hulking key defender Marcus Adams (ankle) both got through Footscray's win over Werribee unscathed after resuming from pre-season injuries.
Morris is the more likely of the two to face the Magpies with the Dogs expected to take a cautious approach with the injury-plagued Adams.
Injury news
Impressive draftee Aaron Naughton is still 1-2 weeks away from returning from an ankle injury.
Premiership player Clay Smith (knee) is a month off resuming, while big forward Jack Redpath (knee) is expected to miss another 8-9 weeks.
Player to watch
As AFL.com.au recently highlighted, Jack Macrae is arguably the competition's most in-form onballer and is averaging 34.1 disposals (15.1 contested), seven clearances, 6.8 tackles and 5.2 inside 50s this season.
Those numbers have ramped up in the past three rounds to 41 (23), 10.7, 9.7 and six in an extraordinary purple patch.
Pies coach Nathan Buckley spoke about Macrae's form when he held his weekly press conference at the Holden Centre on Wednesday.
"Jackson Macrae's been a prolific player over the last three or four weeks and we don't want him getting off the chain," Buckley said.
"Some of (how we approach Macrae) will be about what we want to do as a team and some of it will be about the individual attention we're giving."
Jack Macrae wins a hard ball against the Crows last Friday night (AFL Photos)
Last time: Round 1, 2017 at the MCG
Match report excerpt: THE WESTERN Bulldogs have kicked off their premiership defence with a hard-fought 14-point win over a gallant Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night.
In the end the Bulldogs' versatility and star power was too much for the Magpies, who relied heavily on the brilliance of skipper Scott Pendlebury and lionhearted efforts from Steele Sidebottom and Adam Treloar.
Bulldogs star Tom Liberatore was crucial in evening up the battle inside the contest, laying 14 tackles, and Marcus Bontempelli's class was telling with two goals exactly when the Bulldogs needed them most.
The Bulldogs eventually ran out winners, 15.10 (100) to 12.14 (86).
After the Bulldogs kicked the opening four goals the Pies worked their way back into the game through the brilliance of Alex Fasolo, who kicked three goals late in the second quarter.
Collingwood then hit the front through a brilliant Treloar goal early in the second half and looked to have the momentum.
However, the Bulldogs, led by the silky Robert Murphy, lifted to kicked five unanswered goals to extinguish the challenge.
COLLINGWOOD 1.5 7.9 9.11 12.14 (86)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.1 9.1 14.6 15.10 (100)
GOALS
Collingwood: Fasolo 3, Sidebottom 2, Pendlebury 2, White, Mayne, Treloar, Goldsack, Hoskin-Elliott
Western Bulldogs: Hunter 3, Johannisen 2, Bontempelli 2, Picken 2, M.Boyd, Stringer, Cloke, Liberatore, Crameri, McLean
BEST
Collingwood: Pendlebury, Treloar, Sidebottom, Adams, Fasolo, Reid
Western Bulldogs: Dahlhaus, Liberatore, Bontempelli, Johannisen, Hunter, Murphy, Boyd
INJURIES
Collingwood: James Aish (virus) replaced in the selected side by Chris Mayne,
Western Bulldogs: Dale Morris (right leg)
Reports: Travis Varcoe reported for rough conduct in the first term.
Umpires: Deboy, Kamolins, Schmitt
Official crowd: 66,254 at the MCG
Former Pie Travis Cloke was among the goalkickers when the Bulldogs defeated Collingwood in round one last season (AFL Photos)
