SUMMARY
The 38thWestern Derby promises to be one of the best. Going by the last three weeks ofform, West Coast could make a case for being the favourite given the Eagles hadchances 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 Kildaoutfit. Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands will be better for their first runback from extended lay-offs but the Dockers have lost Luke McPharlin, whichwill test their number one ranked defence against Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling,who have kicked 75 goals between them. Incredibly, despite leading the ColemanMedal race, Josh Kennedy is not the number one ranked forward in the Eaglesteam on the official player ratings. That honour belongs to Josh Hill who isranked 97th overall in the AFL. Kennedy is ranked 121st. Fremantle's highestranked forward is Matthew Pavlich at 92.
WHERE AND WHEN: Patersons Stadium, Sunday July 14, 2.40pm
TV AND RADIO: Clickhere 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. Thiswill be the 38th clash between the sides and West Coast holds the advantagewinning 21 games to 16.
2. Afterthe Eagles won 17 of the first 22 contests from 1995-2005 the Dockers have beenthe better side since, winning 11 of the last 15.
3. WestCoast has struggled to score against Fremantle recently, failing to kick 100 pointsin each of the last 12 contests.
4.Fremantle remains the number one ranked defence this season, conceding only68-points per game. West Coast is ranked 12th with 91 per game.
5. WestCoast has been a strong clearance team this season, ranked third in the AFLaveraging 40.6 per game. Fremantle is ranked ninth, averaging 37.7 per game.
6. Itwill 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.
