Final questions ahead of the Hawthorn v Bulldogs semi-final

​Can key Dogs get up again? Will contested ball matter? And can Hawthorn's small forwards be stopped?

How will five key Dogs go second up?

The Bulldogs are riding high on a wave of adrenalin and energy following their stunning 47-point win against West Coast at Domain Stadium last week. But there could be some concerns over how last week's five inclusions will perform second-up, especially after a road trip to Perth. Easton Wood (ankle), Tom Liberatore (ankle), Jack Macrae (hamstring), Jordan Roughead (calf) and Jake Stringer (form) had all failed to play a game of senior footy for at least a fortnight before last week's game. Most of them played important roles in their side's thumping of the Eagles and will need to at least reproduce those efforts against the reigning triple premiers on Friday night for the Dogs to be any chance of earning a preliminary final berth.

Can the Dogs overcome disturbing history?

Hopefully Luke Beveridge doesn't pass around the history books to his players in the lead-up to the match because it doesn't make for good reading for the Doggies. Firstly, Hawthorn have not lost consecutive games in two-and-a-half years, with the last instance in mid-2014. Secondly, the Bulldogs have not won two finals in a row since 1961 – the year of their last grand final appearance (a win this week could be a good omen). Thirdly, it's been nearly seven years since the Dogs defeated Hawthorn, with the Hawks winning their last eight meetings by an average of 38 points. The Bulldogs' last win over Hawthorn came way back in Round 3, 2010.

Will contested ball matter?

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has made very clear what his club thinks of the contested possession statistic – "We don't give a toss about that." But surely, as his club heads into a meeting with the pre-eminent contested side in the competition, there would be at least a little part of Clarko that would be concerned about a blowout in that category this week. The Bulldogs are ranked first in the competition for contested possession differential with an average of 14.4 more than their opponent every week. Conversely, the Hawks are the worst with an average of 16.7 less than their opponent every week. Obviously Hawthorn have been able to get away with that for most of the year given they finished in the top four. But in their two most recent losses Hawthorn were smashed in contested possessions, with Geelong (+52) and West Coast (+45) comfortably eclipsing them. The Hawks ended up with 29 less when they snuck past the Dogs by three points in Round 3. If a similar differential occurs on Friday night the Hawks will surely be dancing with death.

Can Hawthorn's small forwards be stopped?

In the absence of genuine key talls up forward, much of Hawthorn's hopes rest with how well their three deadly smalls Cyril Rioli, Luke Breust and Paul Puopolo perform. It's been well-documented how well the Bulldogs have stood up defensively this year, especially without some of their most important backmen for large chunks of the season due to injury. But Beveridge knows they will have to be right on top of their game to nullify the Hawk trio. "The Hawthorn small forwards have been incredibly dangerous, they provide significant aerial and ground threat," Beveridge said. "So we'll need to put enough pressure on the ball and give our defenders a chance to win the ball back really quickly – that'll have a big say on the outcome."

The verdict

This match has all the makings of another September classic. The ageing heavyweight champion seemingly on his last legs up against a brash up-and-coming contender who wants his shot at the title and believes his time has come. The Bulldogs will be out to end an era of extraordinary dominance, but the Hawks will be keen to prove they still have some fight left in them. This really is a flip of the coin job, but the Hawks might just do enough to keep their dream of four consecutive flags alive. Hawthorn by two points in a battle for the ages.