AFL Fantasy is back for another year, and the team at Footy Prophet will again be supplying NMFC.com.au with premium fantasy analysis and tips for the 2016 season.

North Melbourne’s contested ball winning abilities will be put to the test on Friday night. It comes up against the impressive and powerful Western Bulldogs, who have proved to be as good as any side at winning the ball so far this season.

The Bulldogs will arguably be North’s biggest test of the season so far. How the Roos front up to the difficult task of shutting them down will have a big part to play in the fantasy scores that are produced.

North’s centre square team of Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington and Andrew Swallow have a huge task ahead of them as they look to match it with the Bulldogs midfielders. If they can get on top, it should mean bountiful fantasy scores for all three.

The North forwards will also have to put in a big performance to overcome what has been the most effective defence so far this season. However the home side possesses arguably the most effective forward line, so it’s close to an even match.

Jarrad Waite is of course the man to watch here from a fantasy perspective, but the likes of Drew Petrie, Ben Brown, Shaun Higgins and Brent Harvey might all pop up with a few goals and a big score.

One area where North is likely to have an advantage is in the ruck. The combo of Tom Campbell and Jordan Roughead has worked well so far for the Bulldogs this year, but will face a massive challenge in coming up against North’s own Todd Goldstein.

If Goldstein can get on top in the ruck and do some of his usual around the ground work, it should mean a big fantasy night for him and good things for North Melbourne.

Footy Prophet’s Fantasy Five

- Todd Goldstein ($581,000 RUC)
- Jack Ziebell ($534,000 MID)
- Jarrad Waite ($523,000 FWD)
- Brent Harvey ($476,000 FWD)
- Andrew Swallow ($429,000 MID)