NORTH Melbourne ruckman Todd Goldstein is not guaranteed a senior recall despite winning an astounding 64 hit-outs, 22 possessions and kicking two goals in the VFL last Sunday.
North coach Brad Scott said Goldstein would be "strongly considered" for selection against West Coast at Patersons Stadium on Sunday, but stressed settling on the right ruck combination to take on Eagles stars Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui was a dilemma that would take "the whole week to answer".
"It's not only the ruck duel there, it's the forward structure that we go with as well, whether we try and go a little bit taller," Scott said at Aegis Park on Wednesday.
"The weather has been pretty wet over in Perth. All of those things we've got to take into account.
"What I can say is Todd did everything that was asked of him back in the VFL - he played with the intensity he played with last year. That's what we asked him to go back and do ... so he'll be strongly considered."
Despite Perth's wet weather, Scott ruled out delaying a decision on Goldstein's selection until game day.
Goldstein was outstanding last season, carrying North's ruck division in the injury-enforced absence of Hamish McIntosh. But this year, he struggled in the opening four rounds playing alongside McIntosh and, after a poor day against the Sydney Swans in round four, was dropped to the VFL.
Meanwhile, Scott said he did not think West Coast's spiralling injury list would make his team's task significantly easier this Sunday.
The Eagles were already without key players Mark LeCras, Mark Nicoski and Andrew Embley before last round's clash with Richmond, but have since lost key forward Josh Kennedy (ankle) and key defenders Will Schofield (suspension) and Mitch Brown (eye).
Scott said the Eagles' ability to keep winning in spite of their depleted playing stocks would have boosted their morale.
"They're in the fortunate position that while they've lost Nicoski, Kennedy and a few others they don't look to be struggling to cover (them) too much," Scott said.
"Losing Nicoski and LeCras at the start of the year ... a lot of pundits probably saw (that being) the end to their premiership campaign. We can see how premature that statement was."
Scott said as big a hole as LeCras and Nicoski had left - and Kennedy would leave - in the Eagles' forward line, Ashton Hams, Chris Masten and former Bulldog Josh Hill had stepped up in their absence.
Kennedy's injury will probably mean the Eagles line up without the four-tall attack that's been one of their recent strengths. But Scott said the "uncertainty" surrounding the attacking structure West Coast would take into Sunday's game was a challenge in itself for North.
Scott said Sunday's game represented another opportunity for North to test itself against "a genuinely good side".
But he played down the difficulty of playing in Perth.
"It's only three or four hours (by plane) so it's not a big deal," Scott said.
Nick Bowen is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_Nick
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
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