LAST TIME: North Melbourne 15.14 (104) d Richmond 13.13 (91), round 24, 2011 at Etihad Stadium
Richmond must win this match to retain its slim hopes of making the top eight. The Tigers are 11th with a 7-8 record, and with seven games to go, they must win at least five. North Melbourne is ninth with an 8-7 record and stands a good chance of entering the eight, and even rising to seventh, if it wins and other results fall its way. While the Tigers are in disgrace after losing to Gold Coast by two points last weekend, the Roos are among the form teams in the competition after victories over Adelaide, St Kilda and Carlton and a narrow loss to West Coast over the past month.
THE FOUR POINTS
RICHMOND
1. The biggest question hovering over Punt Rd is how will the Tigers respond to their abject loss last Saturday night. Club bosses have this week put the loss down to a lack of leadership and depth. Senior players will need to step up when the heat's on against the Roos to allay fears about the team's wherewithal.
2. Another big question to arise from the loss concerns the team's stoppages set-ups and its ability to cover opposition forwards when the ball is in the opposition attack. The Tigers were all over the shop in the last minute of the match against the Suns. Several of their mistakes can be put down to inexperience, but coach Damien Hardwick will be eager to show that he can at least get the structural side of things right.
3. It was said at the weekend that the Tigers don't deserve to play in the finals if they're going to lose matches like the one they lost against the Suns. That line will be repeated if they lose against the Roos. Both the Tigers and the Roos went into last weekend's round with 7-7 records. The Tigers need to defeat a team that is around the same mark if they're to be taken seriously as a September candidate.
4. The theory surrounding Richmond's playing stocks is that it needs another key defender. That theory is likely to be tested when the Tiger defenders take on the Roos tall forwards, who were rampant against Carlton last week. Alex Rance is in good form, and might even be among the top three in the best and fairest, but you'd think that Kelvin Moore is still underdone after returning to the seniors last week from a hip injury that had kept him out for more than a season. Ben Griffiths is the other first-choice key defender but he was forced to withdraw last week with a calf injury. The Tigers' need for him to come up is especially pronounced by the news that Jake Batchelor is out with a medial ligament injury.
NORTH MELBOURNE
1. North should know by about quarter-time on Sunday whether victory over Richmond will take it back into the top eight or maybe even into seventh place. The Roos sit ninth on the ladder, one game behind Geelong, which is seventh, and equal on eight wins with eighth-placed St Kilda. Geelong is two percentage points clear of the Roos. St Kilda is almost 13 per cent clear on percentage, but the Saints play the top-of-the-ladder Sydney Swans in Sunday's early game. If Geelong and St Kilda lose - in the Saints' case by a significant margin - and North defeats the Tigers, the Roos will climb to eighth.
2. Will Drew Petrie play? And if he doesn't will North persist with its three-pronged tall attack? Petrie is in doubt after being subbed out of North's 53-point win over Carlton with groin soreness. The Roos are optimistic Petrie will play, but if he doesn't will they bring in another tall such as Aaron Black or Cameron Pedersen to play alongside key forwards Lachlan Hansen and Robbie Tarrant?
3. North's midfield depth will be tested against the Tigers. In Brett Deledio, Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin, Richmond boasts three of the best young midfielders in the competition, while Shane Tuck, Shaun Grigg and Reece Conca are also valuable contributors. Given the Kangaroos will be without Leigh Adams and Jack Ziebell, they will need players such as Liam Anthony, Ryan Bastinac and, if selected, Ben Cunnington to step up and support Andrew Swallow, Daniel Wells and Brent Harvey.
4. Sunday's match is the only game North will play at the MCG this season, unless it plays a final there. This is the second year running that the Kangaroos' fixture has included just one home and away game at the MCG, with the Roos playing Collingwood in round 16 last year. As recently as 2000 - Etihad Stadium's first year of operation - North played in seven home and away games at the MCG.
AFL.com.au prediction: North Melbourne by 12 points
The views in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
