North Melbourne v Port Adelaide
Saturday, September 5 - 7.40pm AEST
Metricon Stadium

Top-of-the-table Port Adelaide will enter Saturday night’s clash with second-bottom North Melbourne hot favourites. 

The Power have won four of their last five matches, with an impressive 11-3 record.

The Roos have lost five matches in a row, including a disappointing 63-point defeat to Gold Coast.

Having had the worst run of injuries of all teams in 2020, North will be buoyed by the return of skipper Jack Ziebell, while Flynn Perez will make his debut.

Last time we met 

Round 22, 2019
North Melbourne 22.12.144 def. Port Adelaide 8.10.58 

With how their respective seasons have gone, it’s hard to believe it was the Roos that ran out 86-point winners last time the sides met. 

Six goals to one in the first quarter set the tone at Marvel Stadium, as the Roos went on to record their biggest win of the season.

Ben Brown became the first North player to kick 10 goals since Wayne Carey, while Nick Larkey booted 5 of his own.

Ben Cunnington was dominant in midfield with 37 disposals, while Todd Goldstein’s 34 disposal, 28 hitout and 9 clearance effort was one of the best recorded by a ruckman. 

The Roos had seven players record 30 or more disposals in what was a complete team performance. 

Just 12 of the 22 North players that played that night will be involved on Saturday, with the likes of Ben Brown, Ben Cunnington and Tarryn Thomas out with season ending injuries. 

The matchup 

Charlie Dixon v Robbie Tarrant 

Dixon has been red-hot, and currently sits fourth in the Coleman Medal with 27 goals. 

The 200cm forward has been a beast in the air, with his 39 contested marks by far the most in the competition. 

Vice-captain Robbie Tarrant is his likely opponent, who despite the Roos’ woes, has enjoyed another strong season. 

It’s set to be an enthralling battle, and Tarrant will need to be at his best. 

The key men 

Jack Ziebell and Travis Boak 

North‘s skipper will return for his first game since Round 7, and will need to hit the ground running to give the Roos any chance of victory. 

In the five games he’s played he has failed to live up to high standards of recent years, although two of those have been injury affected 

Ziebell was excellent in the win against Port last year with 33 touches and a goal, and will be looking to lead by example again. 

Ex-Port skipper Boak is back to his brilliant best, sitting third in the AFLCA standings, and is a chance for the Brownlow. 

The 32-year-old averages 22.4 disposals, and 5.1 clearances this year, and will be a key figure once again. 

The stat 

Josh Walker, who plays his 100^th AFL game, leads all key defenders for contested marks, with 25.

The teams

North Melbourne

B: J.Walker, R.Tarrant, F.Perez
HB: S.Atley, B.McKay, L.McDonald
C: T.Dumont, J.Simpkin, J.Polec
HF: M.Wood, N.Larkey, J.Ziebell
F: B.Scott, C.Zurhaar, L.Hosie
FOLL: T.Goldstein, S.Higgins, J.Anderson
I/C: M.Williams, L.Davies-Uniacke, E.Vickers-Willis, A.Hall
EMG: P.Ahern, T.Murphy, M.McGuinness, T.Campbell
IN: F.Perez, J.Polec, J.Ziebell
OUT: M.Daw, P.Ahern, T.Murphy (all omitted)

Port Adelaide

B: R.Burton, T.McKenzie, D.Houston
HB: H.Hartlett, T.Jonas, D.Byrne-Jones
C: X.Duursma, O.Wines, K.Amon
HF: S.Powell-Pepper, T.Marshall, Z.Butters
F: C.Rozee, C.Dixon, R.Gray
FOLL: S.Lycett, T.Rockliff, T.Boak
I/C: S.Motlop, T.Clurey, K.Farrell, C.Sutcliffe
EMG: M.Bergman, J.Garner, W.Drew, B.Woodcock
IN: D.Houston, S.Motlop, K.Farrell
OUT: R.Bonner, B.Ebert, J.Westhoff (all omitted)

Plenty has changed in football in the past year – and that's before taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Port Adelaide ventured to Marvel Stadium in the penultimate round last season and copped an almighty hiding from a North Melbourne side enjoying a renaissance under new coach Rhyce Shaw. 

The Power returned the favour barely 12 months later, albeit not quite as comfortable or emphatic, as they move closer to locking away the minor premiership. 

They put their rivals away with a four-goal burst in the opening quarter and another five goals in a row in the third term to eventually post a 11.12 (78) to 6.6 (42) victory that was decided a long way out. 

North started well and finished much the same, but Travis Boak's latest star showing spearheaded Port Adelaide's 12th triumph of a season that ensures it will enter the finals with confidence. 

Boak (34 disposals, nine clearances) wasn't alone, with midfield battering rams Ollie Wines (30, seven) and Tom Rockliff (31, nine tackles) also winning a mountain of the Sherrin in the middle.

The Power won the centre clearances 15-3, with Scott Lycett also getting the better of his ruck match-up with Todd Goldstein, who was brilliant in the corresponding clash last year. 

The only concern for Port out of the contest will be Zak Butters' high hit on Jy Simpkin in the third quarter, which sidelined the Kangaroo for the rest of the night.

There was still a bit to like for Shaw, who spoke of searching for "little wins" during the week.

Prized midfielder Luke Davies-Uniacke certainly delivered one of those, winning a match-high 16 contested possessions among his 23 disposals. 

Ben McKay also performed an admirable job on Power forward Charlie Dixon, while Jed Anderson (24, six tackles) and Robbie Tarrant (20, 10 intercept possessions) were good as well.

Glancing blow ends Simpkin's night
North Melbourne lost primemover Jy Simpkin for good in the third quarter after copping a high hit at speed from Zak Butters. Simpkin accepted a handball from Luke Davies-Uniacke, spun around and Butters charged through, collecting him in the head with his shoulder. Some graphic vision followed, with Simpkin staggering, then collapsing to the ground. He jumped up, although he looked glassy eyed, and brushed off Roos trainers, including Jona Segal, for a while before eventually going to the bench. The club's medicos ruled the 22-year-old out for the night off the vision and confirmed soon after he had sustained a concussion. As for Butters, one of Port Adelaide's best players this season, he can expect to have some time off. The Power lost injury-prone defender Ryan Burton to a quadriceps issue before quarter-time. 

Shades of Judd?
Stay with me here. Luke Davies-Uniacke pounced on and pinched a Zak Butters handball at half-back in the last minute of the opening quarter. He took off through the centre and left his Port Adelaide opponents in his dust, including Dan Houston, before dishing a handball to Jack Ziebell. He doesn't quite have dual Brownlow medallist Chris Judd's pace – how many do? – but the way he arched his back and put on the afterburners had some similarities to the retired West Coast and Carlton great. At this stage, that and the fact they were both top-five draft picks is basically all Davies-Uniacke has in common with Judd, but Kangaroos fans are hoping he'll anchor their midfield for the next decade. Saturday night's game was another step in the right direction. 

Just a couple of veterans in deep discussion
High-profile pair Robbie Gray and Jack Ziebell had a forthright, but amicable interaction on the tick of half-time after a physical tussle immediately beforehand. Ziebell's North Melbourne teammate Nick Larkey had already been awarded a free kick, but the Sherrin bounced away and Ziebell gently bowled Gray over. Ziebell then continued after the ball, only for Gray to toss him into the ground. The conversation started there, with Ziebell defending his original bump and even demonstrating how he performed it, but neither seemed to budge before Ziebell let out a wry grin. It's all good fun between two wily veterans who combine for 449 games worth of experience.

NORTH MELBOURNE     1.2     2.2     4.4     6.6     (42)
PORT ADELAIDE            4.2     4.5     10.8     11.12     (78)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Goldstein, Zurhaar, Larkey, Hall, Walker, Wood
Port Adelaide: Dixon 2, Wines 2, Motlop, Butters, Amon, Gray, Rozee, Boak, Powell-Pepper

BEST
North Melbourne: Davies-Uniacke, Tarrant, Anderson, McKay, Higgins, McDonald
Port Adelaide: Boak, Wines, Rockliff, Byrne-Jones, Powell-Pepper, Butters

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Simpkin (concussion)
Port Adelaide: Burton (quadriceps)