The Roos will look to collect their first set of four points on Saturday when they host the Crows at Blundstone Arena.

North Melbourne was outmuscled by the Hawks and should be determined to improve against an Adelaide outfit that was pipped by the Bombers at home last Friday night.

Round 7, North Melbourne v Adelaide

Where: Blundstone Arena, Hobart, TAS
When: Saturday, April 27 at 1.45pm AEST
How to watch: Foxtel, Kayo Sports

The opposition

The Crows have struggled to get rolling this season, having picked up just one win in six games while averaging 67 points per outing – ranked 18th in the competition.

They suffered a three-point defeat to Essendon last time out but looked dangerous moving the ball in patches, and if it wasn’t for a controversial finish, they may have claimed the victory.

Captain Jordan Dawson was at his best, finishing with 31 disposals, nine tackles, and two goals, while budding onballer Jake Soligo will be another for the Roos to keep a close eye on after extracting a game-high 10 clearances.

What the coaches have said

North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson on Wednesday: "We know we've got a lot of work to do in the way that we play, we're competitive in phases of games but we're not consistent enough. We looked OK for 15 minutes (against the Hawks), and then they scored nine unanswered goals, so that comes with a side that’s been around the bottom and hasn’t got strong belief and we've just got to turn that around."

Adelaide senior coach Matthew Nicks on Wednesday: "We pride ourselves on contest and we haven’t been bringing it as of late. I'm not saying it hasn’t been there across the whole year but the last few weeks it hasn’t been at the level we expect, internally."

Running hot

Round 6 saw another strong performance from Roos big man Tristan Xerri, who bashed his way to 44 hitouts, 18 disposals, 10 clearances, and a game-high 10 tackles.

Through six matches, he ranks third in the League for tackles per game (8.3) and third for hitouts per game (34.2).

He's been one of the club's most consistent contributors throughout the campaign so far, consistently backing up the high standard he set in Round 1 against the Giants.

Riley's time

After being taken with the 23rd selection of the 2023 National Draft, WA native Riley Hardeman will make his AFL debut this weekend.

The hard-running rebound defender impressed over the pre-season and has made an impact throughout the VFL side's first four fixtures, averaging just under 15 touches per game.

He'll be the fifth Kangaroo to make their competition debut in 2024, following in the footsteps of Colby McKercher, Zane Duursma, Toby Pink, and Tyler Sellers.