North will be looking to break its Round 1 hoodoo on Saturday night with a win over Adelaide on home turf.
The Roos have tweaked their pre-season training regime to avoid another slow start to the year and will try and make amends for last year's opening loss to the Crows.
Teams
North Melbourne
B: Michael Firrito, Robbie Tarrant, Sam Wright
HB: Shaun Atley, Scott Thompson, Jamie Macmillan
C: Sam Gibson, Daniel Wells, Nick Dal Santo
HF: Shaun Higgins, Jarrad Waite, Brent Harvey
F: Jed Anderson, Drew Petrie, Lindsay Thomas
Fol: Todd Goldstein, Ben Cunnington, Jack Ziebell
Int: Andrew Swallow, Taylor Garner, Luke McDonald, Ben Brown
Emer: Ben Jacobs, Lachlan Hansen, Kayne Turner
Adelaide
B: Rory Laird, Daniel Talia, Kyle Cheney
HB: Paul Seedsman, Jake Lever, Nathan Van Berlo
C: David Mackay, Matt Crouch, Brodie Smith
HF: Rory Atkins, Taylor Walker, Rory Sloane
F: Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins, Tom Lynch
Fol: Sam Jacobs, Scott Thompson, Richard Douglas
Int: Brad Crouch, Luke Brown, Wayne Milera, Mitch McGovern
Emer: Kyle Hartigan, Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Jarryd Lyons
North’s midfield
After an interrupted pre-season, Ben Jacobs has been left out of North’s 22. The left-footer was a key part of the side's finals run in 2015, so there a bit of a reshuffle at the stoppages.
The coaching staff have the option to let the midfielders go head to head with the Crows or use Sam Gibson as the tagger - a role he played in conjunction with Jacobs last season.
Before Gibson arrived at North, he spent the majority of his VFL career as an inside midfielder, so it’s a position he's familiar with.
Talking Point: How will the Kangaroos midfield setup without Jacobs, and how effective will it be?
Forward pressure
There is a multitude of options to roll through the forward line with Taylor Garner, Jed Anderson, Lindsay Thomas, Brent Harvey, Shaun Higgins and Daniel Wells all capable of tackling, creating pressure and hitting the scoreboard.
While Adelaide’s pre-season has been based around reducing turnovers, North’s small attacking brigade has the potential to throw a spanner in the works for Crows' coach Don Pyke.
North’s small forwards are capable of creating havoc but will they create enough turnovers to influence the game?
Restricting the firepower
The Kangaroos don’t need too much reminding of how last year’s clash against the Crows turned out.
Conceding 21 goals was the catalyst for a 77-point defeat. Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins kicked 13 between them, and they’ll all be in action.
Robbie Tarrant is the big inclusion for North and he’ll have the first shot at Walker. Scott Thompson could play tall or small and has spent plenty of time on Betts in the past. The matchups will be crucial from the outset.
Can North restrict Adelaide’s forward line in what shapes to be an open encounter?
