The North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos are hosting a qualifying final at Arden Street. There’s something about that sentence that just feels meant to be.

Both North Melbourne and opponents Fremantle have had strong home and away campaigns to lead them to this point at the business end of the season. Here are some of the big questions heading into Saturday’s clash.

Will the head-to-head form prevail?

Since North Melbourne’s introduction into the competition in 2019, both North and Fremantle have been two of the most consistently strong sides in the competition. That’s why it may be hard to believe they’ve clashed just twice in the history of AFLW.

Both games have been won by the Kangaroos, both games have been Kangaroos home games, and both games were won by a combined margin of just 11 points.

The first of these two games was a famous one-point victory for North Melbourne at Arden Street, with that win securing finals football for the team in royal blue and white in 2021.

In the home and away clash this season though, the Kangaroos destroyed a previously unbeaten Dockers side around the contest to emerge as 10-point victors.

Can the Roos make it three from three against the team from the west?

Can the unbeaten Arden Street record continue?

Since its first AFLW game at Arden Street in 2020, North Melbourne has gone undefeated at its spiritual home, a record it will hope can stay intact this weekend.

Fremantle have come the closest to toppling North at home in that aforementioned one-point game from 2021.

The Kangaroos have an average winning margin of 15 points from its five victories at the venue.

Hopefully North Melbourne can continue its scoring prowess at home to set up a meeting with Adelaide next week.

Is the Kangaroos forward hoodoo broken?

If there’s one area North Melbourne has struggled in season 2022, it’s been in the forward third of the ground.

Consistently inefficient forward entries have seen a number of wins remain closer than they should have, and inaccurate goalkicking has seen the Kangaroos kick themselves out of games against high-quality opposition.

While West Coast did finish on the bottom of the ladder, the consistent ability of the Kangaroos forward line to take marks inside 50 last week was pleasing, while nine goals out of 14 scoring shots is a vast improvement in accuracy over recent weeks.

Emma King, Tahlia Randall, Daria Bannister and Jas Garner each kicked two goals, while Sophie Abbatangelo kicked one to showcase the number of options North Melbourne used throughout the game.

Throw in Alice O’Loughlin’s two goals in VFLW action as she searches for a senior recall, and suddenly you have a number of confident forwards heading into what is the biggest game of the season so far.

Which midfield will reign supreme?

There’s no doubting the most high-quality lines of both these teams is the midfield.

On one hand you have a record-breaking Ash Riddell and superstar Jas Garner supplemented by the likes of a resurgent Jenna Bruton, Rising Star nominee Mia King and the rapidly improving Ellie Gavalas.

On the other hand, you have a contested machine in Kiara Bowers fresh off a 17-tackle performance against the Suns alongside the likes of hardened competitors Hayley Miller and Gabby O’Sullivan.

Bowers’ absence was strongly felt in the Round 6 clash between these two sides. Does her inclusion tip the scale in the balance of the Dockers? 

FREMANTLE is into a preliminary final, kicking seven goals in the second and third terms to overcome the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos by 38 points at Arden Street.

It's season over for the Kangaroos, who had finished in fourth spot but lost their second successive qualifying final.

Fremantle had far too many options in attack, with a healthy goalkicking spread of 10 players in the 11.3 (69) to 4.7 (31) result.

North Melbourne looked ominous early, with Ellie Gavalas snapping a terrific opener from the boundary, but the Roos failed to fully capitalise on their early dominance.

The two sides combined for six goals in the second term as the Dockers got rolling.

Gabby O'Sullivan (18 disposals, six clearances) and Hayley Miller (21, five and an important goal on the stroke of half-time) wrested control in the midfield, and Fremantle jumped out to a 10-point lead. Two goals in a minute brought the Roos right back into the game, but it was short-lived, the momentum swinging back the visitors way for a nine-point lead at the major break.

While the stats sheet looked fairly even, Fremantle was far more damaging with ball in hand in the third term, booting three goals to just two behinds.

KANGAROOS v DOCKERS Full match coverage and stats

Jas Garner provided a brief note of hope with the opening goal of the fourth after Emma Kearney was thrown into the middle, but Kiara Bowers' work rate and Kara Antonio's quick reply sealed the result.

The Dockers lost ruck Sarah Wielstra to a left ankle injury following a marking contest in the first quarter, while Roos counterpart Kim Rennie was concussed in the second term.

Sore Bowers works way into match
An uncharacteristically quiet Bowers recorded zero disposals and just one tackle to quarter-time, but finished with a head full of steam. By the final siren, the champion Docker had 21 touches, eight clearances and three tackles, and coach Trent Cooper explained she had woken up this morning with a stiff back. It's not expected to affect her in the long term.

Roos suffer big blow
The importance of recruiting Rennie has perhaps been undersold this year. After she suffered a concussion, Emma King was moved into a full-time ruck role, with Tahlia Randall left as the sole tall forward. In the moments King needed a break, blue-chip midfielder Jas Garner was needed to face Mim Strom, robbing the Roos of a quality ball-winner.

Dockers get it done at the coalface
A quick glance at the team v team statistics would suggest a closely fought affair, or even a North Melbourne victory. But Fremantle was so efficient, it didn't matter that the Roos recorded three more inside 50s or three more marks inside 50. The real difference was exposed in the clearance count, which the Dockers won by eight.

Say what?
"The first quarter, the game was looking pretty good for us. We were playing the game pretty much the way we wanted to, our contested footy was strong in that first quarter, our inside-50 count was really strong, but we probably didn't build the scoreboard pressure we would have liked." – Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker

"Very happy. We had a tough run for a few weeks, but we felt we were really building and training has been really solid this week. Coming back to Victoria was great, we're five from five this year. We made sure we kept our structure today, and I'm really proud of how the forwards managed to do that." – Dockers coach Trent Cooper

Up next
Fremantle's preliminary final will be against Adelaide in Adelaide, with a date and time yet to be determined. North Melbourne's season is over, and it will finish fifth or sixth depending on the result of the Brisbane-Collingwood clash.

NORTH MELBOURNE     1.4     3.5     3.7     4.7     (31)
FREMANTLE                    1.1     5.2     8.2    11.3    (69)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Gavalas, Abbatangelo, Randall, Garner
Fremantle: Hyde 2, Roux, O'Sullivan, East, Houghton, Miller, Webb, Tighe, K. Antonio, E. Antonio

BEST 
North Melbourne: Riddell, Kearney, Garner, Bruton, E. King
Fremantle: Miller, O'Sullivan, Bowers, Tighe, Cuthbertson

INJURIES 
North Melbourne: Rennie (concussion)
Fremantle: Wielstra (ankle)

Reports: Nil