Who: North Melbourne v Adelaide
Where and when: Blundstone Arena, Saturday May 6, 1:45pm EST
TV and radio: Broadcast guide
Tickets: Purchase tickets

Storyline

Coming off its first win of the season, North hosts the ladder-leading, high-flying Crows on Saturday at Blundstone Arena.

It’s the first encounter between the sides since they met in last year’s Elimination Final, which North will be looking to reverse the result of.

North has played Adelaide at Blundstone Arena once before, back in 2014. On that afternoon, the Roos ran out victors by just seven points.

In a sign of how much North’s list has changed in the meantime, less than half those Roos will take the field.

Hot topics

The return of Jarrad Waite

After missing five matches due to an AC joint injury, Waite’s return gives North another tall marking option and means the attacking setup looks closer to the preferred one used in recent seasons.

It’s the first time this year that Waite, Ben Brown and Mason Wood will play together.

Winning the contested ball

The contested game is one North prides itself on, but on Saturday it’s coming up against the best side in the competition at winning it.

Led by Rory Sloane (94 contested possessions) and Matt Crouch (82 contested possessions), the Crows have a deep midfield rotation.

For the Roos it will be Jack Ziebell (69 contested possessions), Ben Cunnington (65 contested possessions) and Trent Dumont (60 contested possessions) who will be relied upon to get the ball forward to Brown and co.

Controlling the tempo

Adelaide’s high-scoring ways are boosted by its ability to control the tempo of the game.

The Crows rank second in both time in possession and time in forward half, meaning their opposition is constantly under the pump.

North was able to have a significant advantage against the Gold Coast by keeping the ball in its forward half for a much longer period than the Suns.

If it can again restrict the time the Crows have the ball going forward, it can aim to keep them to a manageable score.

The burning questions

How will North match up against Adelaide’s forwards?

With plenty of firepower at the Crows’ disposal, North’s back six will have to be on its game from siren to siren with the likes of Eddie Betts, Taylor Walker, Josh Jenkins and Tom Lynch roaming around.

Do the conditions change the game?

Games at Blundstone Arena have tended to be less free-flowing than those at other grounds with sometimes unpredictable weather.

Can North start strongly?

The Roos have won more first quarters than Adelaide but will need to maintain the momentum.

Teams

North Melbourne

B: Marley Williams, Robbie Tarrant, Ed Vickers-Willis
HB: Lachlan Hansen, Scott Thompson, Jamie Macmillan
C: Nathan Hrovat, Ben Cunnington, Kayne Turner
HF: Taylor Garner, Ben Brown, Mason Wood
F: Jed Anderson, Jarrad Waite, Shaun Higgins
Fol: Todd Goldstein, Jack Ziebell, Sam Gibson
Int: Luke McDonald, Ryan Clarke, Trent Dumont, Shaun Atley
Emer: Braydon Preuss, Corey Wagner, Declan Mountford

In: Jarrad Waite, Ryan Clarke
Out: Aaron Mullett (hand), Jy Simpkin (managed)

Adelaide

B: Luke Brown, Kyle Hartigan, Jake Lever
HB: Rory Laird, Daniel Talia, Jake Kelly
C: Brodie Smith, Richard Douglas, Rory Sloane
HF: David Mackay, Taylor Walker, Tom Lynch
F: Charlie Cameron, Josh Jenkins, Eddie Betts
Fol: Sam Jacobs, Matthew Crouch, Brad Crouch
Int: Curtly Hampton, Rory Atkins, Andy Otten, Wayne Milera
Emer: Riley Knight, Troy Menzel, Reilly O’Brien

Unchanged