Fremantle are on track for the minor premiership — the title for finishing the home-and-away season on top of the ladder — and a club that has never won an AFL flag is starting to believe this could be the year.

The Dockers host the Western Bulldogs at Perth Stadium on Friday night, July 31, in a Round 21 clash that matters at both ends of the table. Fremantle are tracking toward a second minor premiership, having claimed their first previously (AFL.com.au). The Bulldogs sit in the wildcard spots — the positions outside the top six that feed into a knockout play-in round — and a win on the road would bump them into the top six outright (ABC Sport).

That sets up a genuine double-stakes contest. The Dockers want to lock down first place and the home finals that come with it. The Bulldogs need every win they can scratch together from here.

Fremantle entered the AFL in 1995 and have never lifted the premiership cup. That drought hangs over every September the club plays in. A minor premiership — awarded to the team that finishes the regular season with the most premiership points — guarantees a top-two finish and a double chance in the finals series, where a loss in the first week doesn't mean elimination.

For the Bulldogs, the equation is simpler. Win, and they jump into the top six. Lose, and they stay in the wildcard scrap, where one bad night can end a season. The Bulldogs have their own history with heartbreak and breakthrough — they broke a 62-year premiership drought in 2016 — and they know what a late-season surge can do.

Both clubs have live coverage running for the match. ABC Sport is blogging the game in real time (ABC Sport), and the AFL's official match centre is tracking stats and scores (AFL.com.au).

Round 21 sits deep enough in the season that every result shifts the ladder picture. Two rounds after this, the eight is set. For Fremantle, the minor premiership is close enough to touch. For the Bulldogs, the top six is one result away. Perth Stadium will tell us plenty about both.