Six wins in a row for North Melbourne has it on the verge of sealing a finals appearance.
However in its way is a ladder-leading Fremantle side anxious to bounce back from a rare loss in the Western Derby.
It shapes as one of the matches of the round.
Squads
North Melbourne
B: Michael Firrito, Robbie Tarrant, Lachlan Hansen
HB: Sam Wright, Scott Thompson, Shaun Atley
C: Jamie Macmillan, Nick Dal Santo, Ben Jacobs
HF: Shaun Higgins, Drew Petrie, Brent Harvey
F: Ben Brown, Jarrad Waite, Lindsay Thomas
Fol: Todd Goldstein, Ben Cunnington, Andrew Swallow
Int: Ryan Bastinac, Luke McDonald, Robbie Nahas, Sam Gibson
Emer: Brad McKenzie, Aaron Mullett, Trent Dumont
In: Jamie Macmillan, Ryan Bastinac
Out: Jack Ziebell (suspension), Taylor Garner (omitted)
Fremantle
B: Lee Spurr, Luke McPharlin, Garrick Ibbotson
HB: Cameron Sutcliffe, Michael Johnson, Stephen Hill
C: Tendai Mzungu, Nat Fyfe, Tommy Sheridan
HF: Nick Suban, Chris Mayne, Michael Barlow
F: Danyle Pearce, Alex Pearce, Michael Walters
Fol: Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy, Lachie Neale
Int: Zac Dawson, Matt de Boer, Jonathon Griffin, Hayden Crozier
Emer: Zac Clarke, Connor Blakely, Ed Langdon
In: Luke McPharlin, Zac Dawson
Out: Alex Silvagni (Suspension), Matthew Pavlich (Achilles)
A change in scenery
In recent years, North v Fremantle has been a fixture a long way west of Etihad Stadium.
The last three meetings have been held in Perth at Domain Stadium, with a gap of three years since the Kangaroos hosted the Dockers.
A constant in those three matches have been the Roos’ struggles to hit the scoreboard. Although it was victorious in 2014, it was with a score of only 10.14.74. In its two losses it had a combined total of 9.17.71.
Needless to say, the faster track of Etihad Stadium should mean a higher scoring encounter.
History repeating
The Kangaroos’ most recent win streak of six games was back in 2012. For the most part, they were kicking high scores and restricting opponents to low totals.
Looking for win number seven, North arrived at Etihad on a Sunday afternoon to face…Fremantle.
It was a tight, topsy-turvy encounter and at times it appeared North was just about to take complete control.
However it was the Dockers who ran away with the game in a spectacular final quarter burst, slamming on seven consecutive goals in just 10 minutes.
A similar result on Sunday would throw North right back into the pack battling for a spot in the final eight.
High stakes
Depending on results throughout the weekend, North could all but seal its position in the finals for 2015.
When Round 21 begins, the Kangaroos will be a game and a half clear inside the eight. If they defeat Fremantle the gap will stay at least the same. With GWS (two games behind) facing Sydney, it could fall three games behind with two matches to go.
Geelong also faces Adelaide in Round 23, meaning one side will most likely walk away with zero points. The two are currently directly below the Kangaroos.
Hitting the scoreboard
In the absence of Matthew Pavlich, Fremantle will be missing its most dangerous key position forward. While it may mean the Dockers hit the scoreboard slightly less, it won’t affect their typically stingy defence.
The ladder leaders have conceded the least amount of points in the AFL, at an average of only 68.1 per game. Meanwhile during North’s winning streak, it has kicked 114.7 points per game.
A feature during the six games has been the ability to pile on goals in quick time – nine goals in the third quarter against St Kilda, seven goals in the first and third terms against Melbourne and seven in the final quarter against Brisbane just to name a few.
Fremantle has rarely conceded goals in such a burst, but has made a habit out of bouncing back strongly after such an occasion. For example:
- Round 3: Conceded six goals in Q4 against West Coast. In Round 4 it conceded only one goal in the first half against Sydney.
- Round 7: Conceded six goals in Q4 against Western Bulldogs. In Round 8 it conceded only five goals against North.
- Round 10: Conceded eight goals in Q1 against Richmond. In Round 11 it conceded only seven goals against Gold Coast.
Last week against West Coast, the Eagles scored 104 points. It was only 11 points short of the season high total Fremantle has conceded.
It means there will definitely be a response from the Dockers at Etihad. It’ll be up to North’s forward structure to stand up to the heat.
