Bulldogs to be bolstered, Kreuzer to miss again
Lachie Hunter and Bailey Williams are certain to return as the Western Bulldogs look to rebound from a bad loss to Fremantle in Perth with victory against dangerous opponent Carlton on Friday night.
The Bulldogs are delicately poised with a 1-4 record and meet the winless Blues in a low-profile but suddenly captivating Friday night match at Etihad Stadium.
But Carlton will again be without Matthew Kreuzer as club medicos err on the side of conservatism with the big ruckman and his groin complaint.
"He's pretty much right to play," said coach Brendon Bolton. "However as a club we’re going to make a decision not to play just because his training has had no continuity.
"He’s feeling pretty good this week, but we just need more training into him, so he’ll miss."
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge acknowledged the relative youth of his team which lost to the Dockers by 54 points but wants to see a return to the form of two-to-three weeks ago when they defeated Essendon and narrowly loss to Sydney.
He doesn't expect to see a repeat of the skill errors which plagued the Dogs last weekend.
"We used the ball well enough in the previous couple of games to think that it wouldn’t have gone so south – in the west," Beveridge said.
"Hopefully the boys are on top of their game and a hell of a lot better than we were last week.
"As I said it was a bit of a head scratcher to see it unfold like that. I don’t think we can be that bad again."
The coach said Hunter and Williams had been two of the club's better players when they played their best footy this year.
“We missed them. Hayden Crozier is available but we’ll finalise that today. There will be a few boys who’ll make way," Beveridge said.
“As far as age and games experience, there’s quite a few boys who are still on the sidelines.
“Our status at the moment and our demographic is relatively young and inexperienced.”
But Beveridge said selection wouldn’t be affected by playing on the controversial Optus Stadium surface or having only a six-day break.
While Carlton will again be without Kreuzer, Bolton said Matthew Kennedy and Caleb Marchbank are certain to return.