Where and When: Western Bulldogs at Victoria University Whitten Oval, 29th June at 12:00pm.

It was a huge 55-point win for Hawthorn when they faced the Bulldogs in Round 14 last season. It was the only time the two sides met for the year and the Hawks came away victors thanks to a five-player effort in front of goals.

The Bulldogs had an impressive start to the 2019 season, with a four-game winning streak that was cut short in their Round 6 loss to Carlton.

In recent weeks, the Dogs have been resting their AFLW players and are instead playing a younger list. The side have only managed to score two goals over the last two rounds including a disappointing loss to the Pies last week, in which they went down by 74 points.

Read: Like a duck to water

The home side, who sit fifth on the ladder above the Hawks at seventh, will have to be prepared for Saturday’s match. Despite a three-point loss to the Saints last week, Hawthorn have been in good form with many of their returning premiership players showing their experience and strength, including the likes of Sarah Perkins and Pepa Randall.

Randall was named best-on-ground last week, having shut down one of the Saints’ most valuable forwards, Caitlin Greiser, keeping her goalless and to just six disposals. The defender will be looking to repeat this performance and shut down the Bulldogs’ key forwards.

Perkins will already be on the Bulldogs’ radar having kicked three goals against them last year. The key forward is one of the more experienced players in Hawthorn’s side, having played AFLW and playing a huge role in the club’s premiership win last season. 

Bulldogs’ player Bailey Hunt will be one for the Hawks to watch come Saturday’s game. Hunt is an AFLW listed player at the Bulldogs. She was the first nominee for a NAB AFLW Rising Star and was more recently named in the best for the Dogs’ game against Collingwood last week. The fast defender will be a threat down back and will be looking to slow the Hawks down on the scoreboard.

With the Dogs looking to redeem themselves after such a big loss last week and the Hawks again looking for their fourth win, Saturday’s game is set to be a tight contest between the two sides.