Round 3 of the 2025 AFL season continues on Friday night with another clash at Marvel Stadium, as the 0-2 Blues take on the 1-1 Bulldogs. It’s a big game for both clubs coming off Round 2 losses, and it should be an exciting and highly entertaining fixture. As always, we bring you our full match preview, best bet, and Same Game Multi below!
Also, Before You Bet will be providing free previews and betting tips for EVERY game in the 2025 AFL season, so make sure to head over to out our AFL Tips regularly to keep up to date with all of our free content.
Carlton vs Western Bulldogs
Location: Marvel Stadium – Melbourne
Date: Friday, 28th March
Time: 7:40pm AEDT
Odds: Carlton ($2.05) vs Western Bulldogs ($1.78)
Line: Western Bulldogs -4.5
Points: 170.5
Odds and lines provided with thanks to Dabble. Note that odds and lines can fluctuate throughout the week, and are correct at the time of writing.
Match Preview
Carlton and the Western Bulldogs go head-to-head on Friday night at Marvel Stadium in what’s shaping up to be a big game for both teams. The Blues are under huge pressure after a nightmare start to the season, sitting at 0-2. Their Round 1 collapse against Richmond—where they somehow blew a 41-point lead—was bad enough, but things didn’t get much better last week when they lost by 20 points to Hawthorn. The biggest issue has been their inability to move the ball effectively from midfield to attack, managing just 69 and 60 points in their two games. If they don’t fix their forward-line struggles soon, this season could slip away from them quickly.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, have looked a lot more solid despite dealing with injuries. They kicked off the season with a strong 16-point win over the Kangaroos, racking up 113 points in the process, before falling just short in a six-point loss to Collingwood last weekend. Even with a few key players missing, they’ve looked competitive and have shown signs that they’ll be in the mix for finals. With a couple of important defenders returning this week, they’ll fancy their chances of shutting down Carlton’s struggling attack and continuing their good recent record against the Blues.
Both teams have made a couple of changes for this one. Carlton have dropped Cooper Lord and Lucas Camporeale, bringing in Jordan Boyd and Francis Evans. The Bulldogs have boosted their backline by bringing in key defenders Liam Jones and James O’Donnell, replacing Taylor Duryea and Arthur Jones. But the biggest story of the week is Harry McKay stepping away from football indefinitely due to personal reasons. With McKay out and Charlie Curnow looking well below his best last week, Carlton’s forward line—which has already been struggling to score—remains extremely thin.
The Bulldogs have had the edge over Carlton in recent years, winning three of the last four matchups, including both of the last two. Last season’s 100-86 win showed how they can break down Carlton’s defence, and based on what we’ve seen so far this year, there’s no reason to think they won’t do it again. The Blues are currently the worst team in the comp when it comes to converting inside 50s into scores, and they also rank second last for scores off turnovers, meaning they’re not capitalising on opposition mistakes.
With Carlton looking completely out of sorts going forward and missing one of their key targets, the Bulldogs’ defence should have a much easier time keeping them in check. The Blues need to find some answers in attack fast, but based on what both teams have shown so far, it’s hard to go past the Bulldogs getting the job done here.
Western Bulldogs to Win
$1.80 (1.5 Units)
Same Game Multi
Throughout the 2025 AFL season we’ll be putting together a fun same game multi for every match at BoomBet using their BetShare feature.
To follow our multi, just click on the BoomBet BetShare button below and our same game multi selections will be added straight into your bet slip on BoomBet. You can then enter how much you wish to wager, and with a single click, your bet has been placed!
Sam Darcy 3+ Goals – How good does this guy look! 4 goals against the Magpies last weekend and could’ve had a couple more. Happy to back him in for 3+ at the perfect conditions at Marvel given the form he’s show so far in 2025.
Joel Freijah 20+ Disposals – Has had a fantastic start to the season playing across half back and in the middle. Can find the footy and remains solid value for 20 disposals.
Tom De Koning 20+ Disposals – Another one that has had a terrific opening couple of games. Finds the footy like not many other big men can and he should have the better of Tim English here.
SGM Odds: $3.50 at BoomBet
