GWS Giants v North Melbourne
Sunday, June 14 - 1.05pm AEST
GIANTS Stadium
North Melbourne travels to Sydney on Sunday afternoon to take on the GWS Giants, with both teams looking to make a 2-0 start to their seasons.
Although the Roos and Giants made winning starts to 2020, their opening round victories came in contrasting fashions.
North fought back from 31 points down in the third quarter to defeat the Saints after a slow start.
The Giants however led from start to finish against the Cats, suggesting the 2019 Grand Finalists will be looking to pick up where they left off.
Sunday will be the first time the two teams have met in Sydney since 2015, a clash the away team won by 56 points.
Robbie Tarrant and Jasper Pittard will both play their 150th AFL games.
Last time we met
Round 13, 2019
GWS 14.7.91 def North Melbourne 10.8.68
North entered the clash with the Giants on the back of three straight wins, but couldn’t get the job done in Ben Cunnington’s 200thgame.
The Roos were in the contest for most of the game, taking the lead in the third term, but faded in the final quarter.
Jed Anderson impressed for the Roos in midfield with 12 tackles, while youngster Tarryn Thomas kicked 2 goals.
The Giants’ ability to accumulate possessions was a significant factor in the win, with Josh Kelly (35 disposals), Tim Taranto (30) and Stephen Coniglio (27) all starring.
The teams
North Melbourne
B: Macmillan, Tarrant, McDonald
HB: Pittard, Walker, Atley
C: Dumont, Cunnington, Polec
HF: Thomas, Brown, Taylor
F: Hall, Ziebell, Zurhaar
FOLL: Goldstein, Higgins, Simpkin
I/C: Anderson, Hayden, Scott, Wood
GWS
B: Nick Haynes, Aidan Corr, Sam Taylor
HB: Isaac Cumming, Phil Davis, Zac Williams
C: Harry Perryman, Stephen Coniglio, Lachie Whitfield
HF: Josh Kelly, Jeremy Cameron, Toby Greene
F: Brent Daniels, Jeremy Finlayson, Harry Himmelberg
FOLL: Sam Jacobs, Jacob Hopper, Matt de Boer
I/C: Heath Shaw, Callan Ward, Daniel Lloyd, Jye Caldwell
New faces
North Melbourne
Kyron Hayden will play his second AFL game, almost a year after rupturing his achilles on debut.
Bailey Scott returns to the lineup for the first time since Round 4, 2019.
Mason Wood replaces Nick Larkey in the forward line.
GWS
Star duo Zac Williams and Callan Ward return from injury for the Giants, while second-year midfielder Jye Caldwell makes his first appearance of 2020.
The match-up
Ben Cunnington v Matt de Boer
Lock-down man de Boer got the better of Cunnington the last time the two sides met, keeping the star-mid to just 16 disposals.
Cunnington showed his match winning ability in Round 1, swinging forward to kick two important goals late on, to go with 26 disposals.
If he can escape de Boer’s grip, he could well be the difference for the Roos.
The stat
North Melbourne has never lost away to GWS in three visits.
The last of those however was in 2015, with wins previous wins in 2012 and 1014, when the Giants were a much different side.
Key men
Ben Brown and Jeremy Cameron
Two of the game's best key forwards will go head-to-head on Sunday.
Ben Brown has kicked the most goals in the AFL in the last three seasons, with Giants' star Cameron pipping Brown to the Coleman Medal in the final round of 2019.
Both men will have a big say in their teams fortunes.
