The ground formerly known as Manuka Oval will be foreign territory to all but a few Kangaroos. Of the 22 that took the field for North’s most recent game at the venue, only Michael Firrito, Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Andrew Swallow and Daniel Wells are still at Arden Street.

At 138 metres wide, StarTrack Oval is much roomier than the Roos’ current home at Etihad Stadium (128 metres). At times extra space on a ground can cause sides to get ‘lost’ playing the flanks, ignoring the corridor. As a result, more scoring shots tend to be from an angle which can lead to greater inaccuracy.

However the GWS Giants have resisted the trend, kicking very accurately in their two games at StarTrack in 2014.

2014Conversion from corridorConversion from angle
Giants at StarTrack68.8%62.5%
League average63.3%48.5%

North will catch a break with the absence of Jeremy Cameron. In his seven games at StarTrack since the Giants’ inception, he has been far and away the most dangerous forward. Targeted with 41 inside 50 entries, it’s a steep drop to the next ranked Giant – Jonathan Giles with only 11.

Devon Smith is one player who’ll be important to the Giants’ chances. He is the only other double figure goal-kicker at the venue. Perhaps more dangerously for the opposition, he has done all his work at ground level. Only targeted with 6 inside 50’s, the goal sneak has still kicked 13 goals in seven games.

Games over the last two seasons at StarTrack have typically been high scoring. Since the start of 2013, 210.4 points have been scored a game. Considering North has only broken the century on one occasion in the last five weeks, it could be just the tonic needed to kick-start its attack.

Opponents have passed the 100 mark in four of the Giants’ last five games at StarTrack. Typically it has been big last quarters which has done the trick – Gold Coast kicked eight goals in Round 5 last year, the Western Bulldogs kicked seven goals in Round 4 this year, St Kilda kicked six goals in Round 3 last year and Port Adelaide kicked five goals in Round 7 this year.

Considering North’s excellent last quarter efforts have tapered off since the midway point of the season, it should provide a mental boost if the game is close with a quarter to go.

NMFC last quarters, 2014Rounds 1-10Rounds 11-19
Total score33.26.22422.39.171
Quarters won (lost)7 (2)4 (5)

The Kangaroos boast a good record at StarTrack Oval, winning 11 of 18 games at the venue.