It’s the biggest challenge in football, and this weekend it’s North Melbourne’s turn to travel to Domain Stadium and attempt to defeat a Fremantle side still undefeated in 2015.
Last time the two teams met, the Kangaroos were in hostile territory in Perth. However they came back from more than four goals down to record one of their best victories of 2014.
Teams
North Melbourne
B: Lachlan Hansen, Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito
HB: Luke McDonald, Robbie Tarrant, Jamie Macmillan
C: Sam Wright, Brent Harvey, Ryan Bastinac
HF: Shaun Higgins, Jarrad Waite, Mason Wood
F: Lindsay Thomas, Drew Petrie, Robbie Nahas
Fol: Todd Goldstein, Ben Cunnington, Jack Ziebell
Int: Ben Jacobs, Trent Dumont, Shaun Atley, Sam Gibson
Emer: Majak Daw, Kayne Turner, Scott McMahon
In: Mason Wood, Trent Dumont
Out: Ben Brown (knee), Andrew Swallow (thumb)
Fremantle
B: Clancee Pearce, Luke McPharlin, Lee Spurr
HB: Garrick Ibbotson, Michael Johnson, Stephen Hill
C: Tom Sheridan, Nat Fyfe, Danyle Pearce
HF: Chris Mayne, Matt Taberner, Michael Walters
F: Zac Clarke, Matthew Pavlich, Hayden Ballantyne
Fol: Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy, Lachie Neale
Int: Michael Barlow, Cameron Sutcliffe, Paul Duffield, Nick Suban
In: Luke McPharlin
Out: Alex Pearce (back bruising)
Changing faces
To show just how quickly football can shift, North will face Fremantle this weekend with nine different players than the outfit that was victorious last season.
Leigh Adams, Aaron Black, Nick Dal Santo, Majak Daw, Levi Greenwood, Nathan Grima, Brad McKenzie, Aaron Mullett and Joel Tippett were all part of last year’s win on ANZAC Day and won’t be playing for the Kangaroos on Saturday night.
In their place are Jarrad Waite, Shaun Higgins, Trent Dumont, Mason Wood, Ben Jacobs, Scott Thompson, Robbie Tarrant, Sam Wright and Jamie Macmillan. It speaks to the depth on North’s list that even with such a changeover, the 22 selected will travel to keenly anticipating the challenge in front of them.
Winning the contest
The biggest part of the challenge Fremantle possesses is in the contest, with the Dockers far and away the best contested possession team in the competition through seven rounds of the season.
They are led by Nat Fyfe; the 100-gamer leading not only his club, but the entire AFL in contested possessions (125). He’s backed up by teammates David Mundy (89) and Lachie Neale (78).
If North can neutralise the Dockers at the contest early, it could go a long way to stopping the home side’s trademark fast start. For that to happen, a lot of the responsibility will fall to Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington and perhaps Trent Dumont if he is handed a position in the starting 21.
Dumont has consistently been a terror for opposition sides in the VFL with his ability to win his own ball inside. If he is able to transfer that form to the other side of the country, it’ll make the Kangaroos’ task much more manageable.
Holding the fort
In the last fortnight North’s defensive unit has clicked, holding Richmond to 74 points and Essendon to 82 in back-to-back victories.
It will likely need a third consecutive quality performance against a Dockers outfit that is beginning to find more avenues to goal.
Standing at 197cm, Matthew Taberner is providing an extra presence in Fremantle’s forward half, remaining threatening enough to divert opposition defences, which in turn is allowing more room for the likes of Matthew Pavlich and Chris Mayne to operate.
The aforementioned trio has 37 goals between them in 2015, and while small forwards Michael Walters and Hayden Ballantyne haven’t been lighting the scoreboard on fire, their relative inaccuracy (8.8 for Walters, 5.5 for Ballantyne) suggests they’re still getting their chances on goal.
Lachlan Hansen has taken 25 marks in the last fortnight with his return to the side providing an aerial roadblock for Richmond and Essendon.
The potential ace up Brad Scott’s sleeve is the deployment of Drew Petrie. After four intercept marks in Essendon’s defensive 50 last week, the interim captain during Andrew Swallow’s absence could potentially be thrown back to begin with, at least until the early sting goes out of the game.
Defusing a milestone
Arguably the best player in the AFL at this current time, North will face Fyfe in his 100th game on Saturday night.
The 23-year-old has turned in quality performances against the Kangaroos, averaging more disposals in the matchup than any other club. However as Scott pointed out on Wednesday in his weekly media conference, to put too much attention into Fyfe would practically be inviting the rest of the Fremantle midfield to run free.
The solution may be in how North approached last year’s victory. While the Dockers’ key players still found their fair share of the ball (Fyfe 33 disposals, Mundy 27 disposals), the pressure of the Roos confronted them with was constant and unrelenting, eventually wearing the home side down.
