Streaking sides
The Carlton Draught Western Derby has a history of seeing one side take the upper hand for long periods. After Fremantle won six derbies in a row between 2012 and 2015, West Coast has gone on to win the next three.
Senior coach Ross Lyon said in Wednesday’s press conference that it was “time to be fierce and stand up” to stop the Eagles’ run.

A tale of two rucks
Ruckman Aaron Sandilands has thrived in the wake of the banning of the third man up. After five rounds, Fremantle lead the lead in league in hitouts, averaging 53.6 per game, and are second in clearances, averaging 40.4 per game.
Conversely, the Eagles ruck stocks have been decimated with the long-term injuries to Nic Naitanui, Scott Lycett and Drew Petrie. West Coast has battled on valiantly through duo Nathan Vardy and Jonathan Giles. The Eagles are fifth in the league for hitouts, averaging of 43.4 per game, and ninth for clearances, averaging 37 per game.

A test of depth
The loss of star midfielder Stephen Hill is a blow to Fremantle’s hopes of a derby win, however the Eagles are dealing with their own injury woes.
West Coast will be without injured forward Jamie Cripps (ankle) but received some positive news after naming midfielders Sam Mitchell and Andrew Gaff, who were listed as a test for the game.

Stopping JK
With seven goals to his name, Eagles forward Josh Kennedy had a day out the last time the two sides met.
Kennedy will be up against a vastly different backline this time around, including former Bulldog Joel Hamling and Michael Johnson - who missed the last derby through injury.
Hamling limited Josh Kennedy to just two goals in the 2016 Elimination Final, however he and Johnson will have their work cut out to stop the Eagles forwards. Kennedy is second in the league for marks inside 50, averaging 3.4 per game, while fellow forward Jack Darling is 10th, averaging 2.8 per game.

Does Connor continue his role?
For the past three weeks, Connor Blakely has played a run-with role against Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli, Melbourne co-captain Nathan Jones and North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell, limiting the trio to 24, 18 and 17 touches respectively.
If Blakely plays as a tagger again, the 21-year-old is likely to take on midfielder Luke Shuey, who is averaging 31 disposals this season, or running midfielder Andrew Gaff. There’s also the potential challenge of taking on a Brownlow Medallist in either Matt Priddis or Mitchell.