North Melbourne flies to Adelaide this weekend for what will be its final interstate trip of the home and away season.

The teams will meet for the second time this season after a thrilling win to the Crows in Round 9.

Teams

North Melbourne
B: Lachlan Hansen, Scott Thompson, Aaron Mullett
HB: Jamie Macmillan, Luke Delaney, Shaun Atley
C: Ryan Bastinac, Daniel Wells, Sam Gibson
HF: Lindsay Thomas, Drew Petrie, Brent Harvey
F: Leigh Adams, Robbie Tarrant, Aaron Black
Fol: Todd Goldstein, Ben Cunnington, Jack Ziebell
Int From: Will Sierakowski, Levi Greenwood, Kieran Harper, Sam Wright, Taylor Garner, Ben Jacobs, Taylor Hine

In: Taylor Garner, Kieran Harper, Levi Greenwood, Will Sierakowski
Out: Brad McKenzie (omitted)

Adelaide
B: Luke Brown, Ben Rutten, Andrew Otten
HB: Rory Laird, Daniel Talia, Brodie Smith
C: David Mackay, Patrick Dangerfield, Nathan Van Berlo
HF: Bernie Vince, Lewis Johnston, Jared Petrenko
F: Mitchell Grigg, Thomas Lynch, Richard Douglas
Fol: Sam Jacobs, Brad Crouch, Scott Thompson
Int From: Shaun McKernan, Matthew Jaensch, Sam Shaw, Jason Porplyzia, Ricky Henderson, Rory Sloane, Matthew Wright

In: Matthew Jaensch, Sam Shaw, Jason Porplyzia, Rory Sloane
Out: Jarryd Lyons (omitted)

Substitutes

North Melbourne

After excelling in most appearances as the substitute, Brad McKenzie has been omitted, leaving a vacancy.

While debutant Taylor Garner could be an option to wear the vest, his tackling skills and ferocity around the pack could be important early.

“I’m a bit reluctant really to play a first-game player as a sub. You like to get them into the action pretty quickly,” coach Brad Scott told NMFC.com.au on Thursday.

Sam Gibson and Taylor Hine are among those who’ve filled the role this season, but with fine weather conditions predicted for Sunday, it leaves all options open.

“We always make a decision on our sub very late. We’ll pick our 25, then whittle that down to 22, then work on the balance of the side to see who the sub is.”

Adelaide

Mitch Grigg was the substitute for Adelaide in the showdown and immediately changed the course of the game when he entered play. Coming on the field in the third quarter, Grigg collected 15 possessions and gave his team drive from the back half.

In Round 9, Jason Porplyzia was able to kick a goal and set up another in the last term comeback after starting as the substitute. When the home ground factor is added into the equation, it’s a variable North will have to be extremely wary of.

Young guns

North Melbourne

Aaron Mullett
The left-footer continues to go from strength to strength in his breakout season.

While his first half of the year was spent largely in defence starting North’s rebound, in recent weeks he has drifted forward a little more.

Mullett has kicked an incredible 13.1 this season and hasn’t missed a shot on goal since facing Sydney in Round 3. His game-time percentage has also evened out over the last month (83, 82, 83, 83), suggesting he has found his groove at AFL level.

Adelaide

Lewis Johnston
Without Kurt Tippett and Taylor Walker, Adelaide had been searching for a key-forward to fill the hole. In the former Swan, the Crows may have found something.

Playing his first game for the season against Port Adelaide, Johnston demonstrated a keen eye for the goals and also showed off his set shot prowess, kicking four straight.

Close games

North Melbourne

Much of the external talk around North in 2013 had been around its struggle to win close games. However the light at the end of the tunnel may have been reached against Geelong.

Despite a ferocious challenge from the Cats in the second half, the Kangaroos were able to keep them at arm’s length and record a 10-point victory.

Sunday presents a similar challenge, with North given another opportunity to rectify an early season loss.

Adelaide

Similar to North, the Crows have had their fair share of close losses in 2013. Of their 11 defeats, five have been by under two goals. However they have also won two close games (against North and Geelong).

Leadership
After Andrew Swallow went down with a season ending achilles injury, there was a question mark as to who would step up.

The answer was the rest of the leadership group. Even though Drew Petrie was the official captain, Brent Harvey, Jack Ziebell and co were all influential, a fact the stand-in skipper acknowledged.

“Our other leaders of the footy club, Boomer (Brent Harvey), Daniel Wells, Jack Ziebell, Scotty Thompson all performed really well (against Geelong). You could argue that Ziebell, Wells and Harvey were three of our best, so when there’s more than one person to share the load with, it makes it easier as captain.”

Leadership will become even more important in an interstate game as North looks to keep its slim finals chances alive.