The North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos will take the short drive to the Swinburne Centre this week to tackle Richmond in the hopes of consolidating their spot in the top four.
Here are four of the burning questions ahead of the Kangaroos' Round 6 clash.
Should the Kangaroos beware the wounded Tiger?
Richmond lost Hannah Burchell (knee) and Laura McClelland (ankle) in last week's loss to the Bulldogs, adding to a mounting injury list that already features key players Harriet Cordner (knee) and Courtney Wakefield (shoulder).
That would appear to leave the Tigers up against it on Saturday, but their performances so far this season against quality opposition suggest this could be a banana peel match for the Roos.
After demolishing St Kilda in Round 1, two of Richmond’s most convincing performances have come against Melbourne and Fremantle, both of whom currently hold spots in the top three. With scores of 38 against the Demons and 44 against the Dockers, they registered the two largest losing scores by any team so far this season.
While the Tigers may sit 1-4, they will be no easy beats for North.
Will the Roos revive their goalkicking radar?
While the Kangaroos looked comfortable for large parts of the game against Fremantle last week, their struggles in front of goal kept the Dockers in the game for far longer than they should have been.
Eight consecutive behinds followed the Kangaroos' opening goal in blustery conditions in Hobart, continuing to a run of inaccurate returns in front of the sticks. The Kangaroos have kicked 24 goals and 37 behinds this season at an average of 0.65 goals kicked per point, lower than the league average of 0.77.
The Roos might be able to take some inspiration from the Tigers, who are at the opposite end of the spectrum for goalkicking accuracy. Despite kicking just 1.7 in last week’s loss to the Western Bulldogs, they’ve kicked 29.19 for the season, at an average of 1.53 goals per behind.
Who do the Tigers tag?
Ash Riddell has been putting together an exceptional season in 2022. As of the mid-point of the season she currently sits tied for first place in the race to be named AFLCA Champion Player of the Year.
While Riddell has been the player to stand up most frequently for North’s midfield this season, Mia King is putting together the best season of her young career, and Jenna Bruton’s move back inside off the wing has brought the best out of her this campaign.
Those performances, coupled with Jas Garner’s return to her brilliant best against the Dockers provides Richmond with a match-up headache, and the question of how to contain all the Kangaroos’ midfield threats.
Can the Tigers rediscover their forward firepower?
Richmond have scored a whopping 193 points in their five matches - the fourth most of any team in AFLW this season, and 12 more points than the Kangaroos.
However, the Tigers haven’t won a game since their 10-goal haul against St Kilda in the opening round of the season, and they’ve scored fewer points in each of the last three weeks than the previous week. They scored just 13 points last week, kicking just one goal against the Western Bulldogs.
While their offensive output may have slid since the opening two weeks of the season, the evidence is there to show that Richmond is more than capable of blowing teams away in attack. It’s up to the Kangaroos’ defence to figure out how to keep the Tigers quiet.
