Remarkably, five of those games have been decided by a margin of two goals or less, with the most recent encounter a three-point win to the Bombers.
Kyle Hardingham was the unlikely hero for Essendon last time around, booting four goals on debut. There was controversy before the bounce with three North players withdrawing on game-day and David Hale pulled from the stands to play after already competing in the VFL just hours earlier.
A decade ago the sides fought out one of the more memorable tussles in recent history; a seemingly unstoppable Essendon outfit was given a great shock by a side barely scraping into the top eight.
North Melbourne kicked 12 goals in the opening term, courtesy of four from Saverio Rocca and some good work from Jess Sinclair and Brent Harvey.
But the fourth-highest score ever in a first quarter wasn't enough against the Bombers though.
The last ten meetings:
Round 17, 2010: Essendon 18.14.122 def North Melbourne 18.11.119
Round 4, 2009 - North Melbourne 10.9.69 def Essendon 7.15.57
Round 1, 2008 - Essendon 19.8.122 def North Melbourne 9.13.67
Round 7, 2007 - North Melbourne 18.9.117 def Essendon 13.17.95
Round 13, 2006 - North Melbourne 14.12.96 def Essendon 13.11.89
Round 14, 2005 - North Melbourne 19.14.128 def Essendon 13.8.86
Round 14, 2004 - North Melbourne 14.16.100 def Essendon 12.7.79
Round 12, 2003 - North Melbourne 14.12.96 def Essendon 13.10.88
Round 10, 2002 - North Melbourne 12.20.92 def Esendon 12.12.84
Round 16, 2001 - Essendon 27.9.171 def North Melbourne 25.9.159
