North Melbourne and Hawthorn will both be chasing a third win of the season when they meet on Sunday night.
North will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Sydney, while the Hawks will be wanting to continue where they left off, after convincingly beating Richmond by 32 points.
Last time we met
Round 20, 2019
North Melbourne 12.14.86 def. Hawthorn 9.10.64
In Rhyce Shaw’s first game after being appointed senior coach on a full-time basis, North got off to a slow start.
The Hawks led by 20 at the first change, but the Roos would fight back to run out 22-point winners.
Ben Brown starred in the forward line, kicking four goals, while Shaun Higgins was on fire in the midfield with 28 disposals.
The teams
North Melbourne
B: L.McDonald, R.Tarrant, K.Hayden
HB: J.Pittard, J.Walker, S.Atley
C: T.Dumont, B.Cunnington, J.Polec
HF: T.Thomas, C.Zurhaar, J.Ziebell
F: A.Hall, B.Brown, J.Simpkin
FOLL: T.Goldstein, S.Higgins, J.Anderson
I/C: M. Williams, C. Taylor, J. Mahony, T. Xerri
EMERG: P. Ahern, A. Bonar, J. Macmillan, T. Campbell
Hawthorn
B: J.Sicily, J.Frawley, B.Hardwick
HB: B.Stratton, B.McEvoy, S.Burgoyne
C: R.Henderson, J.Worpel, I.Smith
HF: T.Scully, T.O’Brien, L.Breust
F: J.Gunston, S.Frost, C.Wingard
FOLL: J.Ceglar, T.Mitchell, J.O’Meara
I/C: J.Scrimshaw, O.Hanrahan, L.Shiels, J.Patton
EMERG: H.Morrison, M.Lewis, H.Jones, P.Puopolo
New faces
North Melbourne
The Roos will introduce two debutants, with small-forward Jack Mahony and versatile tall Tristan Xerri getting their chance to impress.
Hawthorn
Former no. 1 pick Jonathon Patton played 89 games and booted 130 goals before arriving at the Hawks in the trade period.
He's only booted three goals in three games, but looms large as a towering presence in attack.
The match-up
Ben Brown v James Frawley
Brown has booted five majors in the first three rounds of the season, with three of those coming last time out against the Swans.
The number 50 will be looking to build on that outing when he takes on the Hawks.
Standing in his way will be James Frawley, who kept Tom Lynch to just one goal last Thursday night, and Tom Hawkins goalless the week before.
The stat
Shaun Higgins seems to take his game to another level against the Hawks, kicking 20 goals against the brown and gold, more than any other team.
The key men
Todd Goldstein and Jaeger O’Meara
Goldstein has wound back the clock in 2020, and has been the competition’s dominant ruckman so far.
The 32-year-old leads the AFL for hit-outs, and sits third for total clearances.
O’Meara missed the Hawks’ Round 2 mauling by the Cats, but returned last week against the Tigers to devastating effect.
The Hawk dominated the midfield battle with 23 disposals and a goal, earning him a perfect 10 from the coaches.
If O’Meara is at his best, the North midfield will face a stern test.
The coaches said
Rhyce Shaw
"We were really disappointed with the way we went about it against the Swannies. We didn't give ourselves the best chance.
"We went through it pretty clearly over the last couple of days and we know how to rectify that."
Alastair Clarkson
"They’ve (the Kangaroos) been really impressive. They’ve certainly won more games than they’ve lost under ‘Shawry’ (Rhyce Shaw).
“We’re expecting a really physical contest.”
