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Bulldogs and Roos make Good Friday history, crunch time for Pies and Saints and the promise of a great Saturday night match-up.
Good Friday football is here
History will be made at Etihad Stadium on Friday evening when the first ever Good Friday football match takes place between North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs. It's been a long time coming for footy fans and they will finally get their wish and have something decent to watch on the first day of the Easter long weekend instead of being forced to watch NRL. The winless Roos are battling to stay in the finals race and are trying to avoid their worst start to a season since 2011. After a disappointing loss to struggling Fremantle last week, Dogs coach Luke Beveridge's famed ruthlessness at the selection table was on show again with premiership duo Shane Biggs and Caleb Daniel dropped. But it's nice when you have the luxury of bringing back another couple of premiership players like Clay Smith and Josh Dunkley. New Bulldog Travis Cloke will play his 250th AFL game while North Melbourne goalsneak Lindsay Thomas is set to play game No. 200. The game will also be Kangaroos speedster Nathan Hrovat's first against his old club.
The Dogs and Roos are set to make history on Good Friday. Photo: Getty Images
Dees aiming for brightest start in 12 years
Melbourne will be aiming for their best start to a season since 2005 when they face Fremantle at the MCG on Saturday. But while their crosstown rivals West Coast struggle at the MCG, Freo have no such issues at the ground, having won three of their last four matches there. They've won six of 13 encounters against the Demons at the MCG and Melbourne fans will never forget a cold Friday night in 1999 when Tony Modra booted 10 goals to guide the Dockers to their first win at the ground. With Max Gawn out, Aaron Sandilands could be set for a huge game and, having just beaten the reigning premiers, the once struggling Freo now have a pep in their step. It's also Jeff Garlett's 150th match.
Adelaide Oval under the microscope
All eyes will be on Adelaide Oval on Saturday night when the Crows host Essendon. There were some ugly incidents at the ground last week during Showdown XLII between Adelaide and the Power. Indigenous stars Eddie Betts and Paddy Ryder were both on the receiving of racial slurs from the crowd while vision emerged of a brawl erupting on the hill behind the goals. You'd like to think these kind of incidents are isolated but, if similar things occur at the stadium this weekend, sadly we might have a bigger problem. The game itself promises to be entertaining as the undefeated Crows aim for their best start to a season since 1996 against an Essendon team on the rebound after suffering a shock loss to Carlton.
Murphy v Ablett promises to be a beauty
Saturday night's match-up between Carlton and Gold Coast might not be one for the time capsule but we could get one of the best individual match-ups of the season so far when Marc Murphy goes head-to-head with Gary Ablett. The two players are in red-hot form. Murphy had 32 disposals, 10 tackles, six clearances and two goals in the pouring rain against Essendon last week while Ablett recorded 36 disposals (14 contested), 10 clearances and two goals in the Suns' biggest win against Hawthorn. Many pundits tipped the Blues and Suns to be bottom four teams this year, but all of a sudden one of these sides will get the chance to even the ledger at 2-2 and attack the next part of the season with renewed optimism.
Crunch time comes early for Pies, Saints
It might only be round four, but we already have ourselves a good old-fashioned "eight-pointer" when Collingwood and St Kilda lock horns at Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Both teams were seen as legitimate chances to return to the finals before the season began but they have made slow starts with just one win each from their first three. That makes this one a crunch match as the loser will slump to a 1-3 record and have a lot of work ahead to ensure September footy is a reality. The Saints have won only one of their last 10 encounters with the Magpies but Nathan Buckley's men struggle at the Docklands venue with just one victory from their last seven matches there. Meanwhile, after more than 600 days in the wilderness with back and ankle injuries, Jamie Elliott will make his long-awaited return to senior footy for the Magpies.
Can Richmond avoid the Brisbane banana peel?
How far have the Tigers come in 2017? We will find out a lot more about them on Sunday when they take on the plucky Brisbane Lions at the Gabba. A match like this would traditionally prove to be a banana peel for Richmond in years gone by. The Lions have definitely improved under new coach Chris Fagan - they beat Gold Coast and hit the front late in games against Essendon and St Kilda, before losing both of those matches. Brisbane might not be expected to finish above the bottom four this year but this still looms as a huge test for the Tigers and their maturity as a football side. A win for Richmond would see them achieve their best start to a season since 1995 - a year in which they made it to a preliminary final. A loss, however, would well and truly see them go back to the drawing board and lose a lot of the momentum achieved from their first three wins.
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