VFL Rd 17 vs Northern Blues
Sunday July 27, 2:00pm
Arden St Oval
North Melbourne will on take on the Northern Blues at Arden St Oval this Saturday, looking to keep its slim finals chances alive.
The Northern Blues have slipped up in recent weeks, winning just one of their last four, but still sit two wins clear of North.
North will be hoping to continue where it left off, after mounting a superb comeback from 51 points down to defeat Coburg by 3 points.
The team
B 40. T Murphy 23. B McKay 36. J Crocker
HB 19. S Wright 1. M Daw 35. D Watson
C 53. T Leonardis 59. N Holmes 61. C Jansen
HF 45. R Murphy 56. B Whitecross 31. C Taylor
F 41. T Wilkinson 38. T Xerri 46. L Hosie
R 42. T Campbell 52. N Rippon 72. D Robinson
Int 55. M Rodd 51. T Hotchin 57. A Morgan
64. L Cunningham 75. C Hodges 79. R Morrison
74.B McLaughlin 68. Q Montanaro
23P 77. R Verbi
Key players
North Melbourne
Nick Rippon
Rippon has been in brilliant form since his return from injury, and was influential in the Roos’ turnaround last week.
The former J.J Liston Medalist has averaged 25 disposals in his five games, and he will no doubt be one of the main men in the midfield.
Northern Blues
Sam Fisher
Fisher has been in strong form, and has put up some solid numbers in his 13 games.
The former Sydney rookie averages 24 disposals, and has kicked 6 goals.
Fisher starred for the Blues the last time the two teams met, collecting 30 disposals and kicking a goal.
What the coach said
“It was really pleasing after quarter time,” David Loader told North Media about the team’s comeback.
“We got so much wrong early. It was really disappointing because it was all stuff that we addressed pre-game. We went away from what we knew worked for us and that’s what you get.
“It’s a real shot in the arm when you can come back and basically come from nine goals behind to get up and win. It was really pleasing, they showed good spirit, especially after quarter-time.
“I think we just went back to what we do well. We spoke about not rushing, slowing the game down a bit, and just trying to build our score and work from there.
“The boys had a really clear vision of what was going to work and what wasn’t.
“We spoke about representing the jumper and what we stand for. I think it’s really important that we can show that and we’ve got to be able to live these qualities, which we did today.”
