Storyline
After countless hours of pre-season training during the scorching Melbourne summer, Round 1 has finally arrived, and there’ll be no team hungrier to start its season with a win than North.
The team have made the trip to Cairns a day earlier to accommodate a training session at Cazalys Stadium on Friday, a ground which has never hosted the royal blue and white.
North will welcome back Ben Jacobs to AFL football after a lengthy stint on the sideline with injury, while Billy Hartung and Luke Davies-Uniacke will make their official debuts as North players.
AFL Returns
Compared to North’s Round 23 win over Brisbane last year, there will be eight different faces in the AFL side this weekend.
Marley Williams, Jamie Macmillan, Ed Vickers-Willis, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Ben Jacobs, Billy Hartung, Jack Ziebell and Jarrad Waite are all included in this weekend’s side after not playing in Round 23 in 2017.
This group brings 742 games of AFL experience to the line-up, which is sure to help a young, emerging side like North’s.
The impact of having captain Jack Ziebell and fellow leader Jamie Macmillan back into the 22 cannot be underestimated, and is sure to give a big boost to the team.
Midfield depth
With the additions of Jed Anderson, Ben Jacobs, Luke Davies-Uniacke and Billy Hartung, North’s midfield has been significantly bolstered.
In addition to these four, Luke McDonald and Jy Simpkin can also apply their trade in the middle to assist the experienced stars in Ziebell, Higgins and Cunnington.
Ziebell showed his prowess as a forward in parts last year, including a five goal haul against Collingwood in Round 20.
Cunnington has also been known to use his strength inside North’s forward 50, so with this sudden added depth through the middle, the opportunities for Brad Scott and the coaches to push their stars forward increase.
Goldstein runs solo
After an outstanding pre-season, in which he failed to miss a session and continually displayed his underrated athleticism, Todd Goldstein has been rewarded by being selected as North’s sole ruckman.
The summer-long debate of whether both Goldstein and Preuss can play in tandem has seemingly come to an end, for now, with coach Brad Scott electing to choose Goldstein exclusively for Round 1.
The 29-year-old has received the backing of Scott, who is confident Goldstein can return to his form from 2015 which saw him awarded an All-Australian selection.
With Jarrod Witts his opponent, Goldstein will be looking get his season off to a strong start, and prove to the competition that he has what it takes to rediscover his form.
Gold Coast's squad
Gold Coast will head into Saturday night's clash without stars Pearce Hanley (shoulder) and Aaron Hall (finger), who were both ruled out follow late pre-season injuries.
Midfield recruit Lachie Weller will line-up for his debut for the Suns, while Aaron Young and Nick Holman are also set to make their Gold Coast debuts.
Co-captains Tom Lynch and Steven May will act as the bookends to what is a strong Gold Coast side.
The burning questions
What will the weather be?
Queensland weather is unpredictable at the best of times, so you can understand why this is a burning question when there are thunderstorms predicted throughout Saturday night. With a 90% chance of rain forecasted, there’s little doubt it will be slippery underfoot, but the extent of which it impacts the game is yet to be seen.
Can Robbie Tarrant stop Tom Lynch?
In what is set to be the most intriguing matchup of the night, star defender Robbie Tarrant will likely be assigned the task of limiting the impact of exciting forward Tom Lynch. Lynch, who is widely considered as one of the best young forwards in the competition, is the Suns’ main avenue to goal, and if you stop him, you go a long way to stopping Gold Coast. Can Tarrant do what he’s done for many years and limit his opponent?
Will North get revenge over Gold Coast?
Last time these two teams met, the Suns defeated North by 19 points at Metricon Stadium. Despite multiple late charges in the final term by the visitors, Gold Coast remained strong thanks to five goals from Lynch and 39 and 37 disposals to Jarryd Lyons and Gary Ablett, respectively. Can North reclaim the bragging rights between these two teams? Only time will tell.
Squads
North Melbourne
B: M. Williams, Thompson, McDonald
HB: Macmillan, Tarrant, Vickers-Willis
C: Davies-Uniacke, Jacobs, Hartung
HF: Atley, Waite, Ziebell
F: Turner, Brown, Hrovat
FOLL: Goldstein, Higgins, Cunnington
I/C: Clarke, Dumont, Anderson, Simpkin
EMER: Daw, Hibberd, Wood, Murphy
Gold Coast
B: Harbrow, Thompson, Joyce
HB: Rischitelli, May, Kolodjashnij
C: Weller, Lyons, Bowes
HF: Martin, Lynch, Young
F: Ainsworth, Day, Sexton
FOLL: Witts, Miller, Swallow
I/C: Holman, Firoini, Macpherson, Rosa
EMER: Barlow, Leslie, Nicholls, Brodie
