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Where: Patersons Stadium, Perth
When: 08.40 (GMT)
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Gold Coast travel west after an impressive win over Richmond but Fremantle was white hot on the opening night of the season and pose a far greater challenge to the Suns.
Gold Coast is yet to win at Patersons Stadium and yet to beat Fremantle in its short history. The Dockers will be wary of the Suns impressive young running brigade but Fremantle’s big-bodied midfield was dominant against Collingwood.
Ryan Crowley will once again tag Gary Ablett, who is coming off 41 disposals and two goals against the Tigers. Crowley kept Ablett to 28 possessions and a goal in their meeting last year.
In each of his next six games Ablett gathered 30 plus possessions and polled a total of 16 Brownlow votes. Another interesting match-up will be Tom Nicholls facing the man mountain Aaron Sandilands in the ruck.
Nicholls battled well against Shaun Hampson in round one but Sandilands’ recent form has been sublime.
Key players
Nat Fyfe (Fremantle) – Showed he has the ability to get the ball and find his goal well again in the first round, could give the Suns’ defenders headaches.
Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle) – Showed that the injury woes of the past might be behind him with a solid outing against Collingwood last weekend.
Hayden Ballantyne (Fremantle) – Kicked three goals last weekend against the Pies, and showed he is not going to back down to anybody in 2014.
Gary Ablett (Gold Coast) – With the interchange cap, Ablett could spend more time in the forward line and could see monster games last like last weekend become the norm.
Jaeger O’Meara (Gold Coast) – Showed how to play the off-sider role to Ablett last season and could grow even more in 2014.
Dion Prestia (Gold Coast) – Averaged 25 touches last season, and will need to edge towards 30 for this season to give the another option other than Ablett.
Match facts
1. No team had more inside-50s in round one than Fremantle. The Dockers had 65 entries while Gold Coast was 10th with 48.
2. The Suns have not beaten Fremantle in their short history. The Dockers have won all three matches by 50, seven, and 45 points respectively.
3. There was a huge differential in the interchanges in round one for these teams. Fremantle had the most in the competition with 118. Gold Coast had the equal least with just 75.
4. Gold Coast remain winless at Patersons Stadium. In four visits the Suns have three losses to West Coast and one to Fremantle.
5. The Dockers laid 71 tackles in round one, which was the sixth best in the competition. The Suns were 13th with just 58.
6. Gary Ablett is the number one player in the Official AFL Player Ratings with 725 points. The combined tally of the Dockers’ highest rated player Stephen Hill (472) and three-time All Australian Aaron Sandilands (253) is 725 ratings points.
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