Who’s hot
North - Drew Petrie
14 goals in two games has prompted many media commentators and footy experts to rate Petrie higher than Travis Cloke and Nick Riewoldt as the best power forward in the league right now.
5 goals away from equaling a career best tally (48) puts Petrie in the prime of his career and no doubt gives Melbourne coach Mark Neeld a headache thinking about an adequate matchup.
Since Round 12, Petrie has been the league’s second highest goal-scorer, kicking 22 in just six games.
Melbourne - Jack Grimes
Coming off a season best game against Port Adelaide, Melbourne’s co-captain will again be looking to lead from the front. The 23-year old defender had 32 disposals, 11 marks and 4 tackles versus the Power.
Where it could be won
There’s no doubt, if North Melbourne is able to generate close to its average of 58 inside 50s, it will win the match at Etihad on Saturday. 2nd in the league behind Hawthorn for the key statistic, the Roos are one of the best attacking sides going around. The side has had 934 inside 50s so far this season, trailing the Hawks by just 4.
Daniel Wells is the leader in this category individually with 83 inside 50s to his name with Andrew Swallow 2nd on 71.
Melbourne averages 46 inside 50s and has a total of 730 for the year, 204 less than North.
Ball use and scoring
North Melbourne has been a much more efficient team than Melbourne so far this season. Despite being know as ‘handball happy’ and accused of overusing the ball at times throughout the year, the Roos have been able to refine their gameplan of late to great effect.
| Team | Disposals Per Goal | Conversion % |
| North Melbourne | 22.57 | 57.1 |
| Melbourne | 32.62 | 49.0 |
When North gets within range, it is far more likely do impact the scoreboard than the Demons with more than an 8 per cent better conversion rate.
Furthermore, North is equal 2nd in the league for scoring averaging 16 goals per game, with Melbourne 16th averaging less than 10 goals per game
| Team | Goals per game | Behinds per game |
| Hawthorn | 17.2 | 15.5 |
| Adelaide | 16.1 | 12.5 |
| North Melbourne | 16.1 | 12.1 |
| St Kilda | 15.5 | 12.5 |
| Sydney | 15.3 | 12.0 |
If such an award existed, Brad Scott would be the AFL’s coach of the month after guiding his team to a 5-1 win-loss record since the bye in Round 11.
For Mark Neeld, it’s a much different story with the first year coach’s side struggling to find any consistency having won just two games.
| Coach | Wins | Losses | Win % |
| Brad Scott | 30 | 30 | 50.0 |
| Mark Neeld | 2 | 14 | 12.5 |
North
Tom Curran (foot) - season
Melbourne
Clint Bartram (knee) - season
Jamie Bennell (knee) - season
Mitch Clark (foot) - season
Aaron Davey (foot) - season
Max Gawn (knee) - season
Mark Jamar (calf) - 3 weeks
Liam Jurrah (ankle) - 2 weeks
Kelvin Lawrence (calf) - test
Jordie McKenzie (groin) - test
Jai Sheahan (ankle) - test
Luke Tapscott (groin) - test
Josh Tynan (concussion) - test
Jack Watts (ankle) - test
Rory Taggert (back) - indefinite
