It will have been 372 days since North Melbourne’s thrilling elimination final win against Essendon when it returns to the MCG on Sunday.
The opponent will once again be a big Victorian side, and once again a side without a finals win in more than a decade.
Although they head into the match regarded as underdogs, the Kangaroos will nevertheless be well armed to progress past the first week of finals for another year.
Squads
North Melbourne
B: Michael Firrito, Scott Thompson, Shaun Atley
HB: Sam Wright, Robbie Tarrant, Jamie Macmillan
C: Nick Dal Santo, Jack Ziebell, Ben Jacobs
HF: Shaun Higgins, Drew Petrie, Taylor Garner
F: Ben Brown, Jarrad Waite, Brent Harvey
Fol: Todd Goldstein, Andrew Swallow, Ben Cunnington
Int From: Ryan Bastinac, Lachlan Hansen, Lindsay Thomas, Luke McDonald, Robbie Nahas, Aaron Mullett, Sam Gibson
In: Nick Dal Santo, Jarrad Waite, Michael Firrito, Andrew Swallow, Shaun Higgins, Lindsay Thomas, Todd Goldstein, Sam Wright, Ben Cunnington, Scott Thompson
Out: Joel Tippett, Majak Daw, Aaron Black, Brad McKenzie, Mason Wood, Trent Dumont (all omitted), Kayne Turner (concussion)
Richmond
B: C Newman, J Batchelor, A Rance
HB: B Houli, N Vlastuin, T Chaplin
C: B Ellis, T Cotchin, K McIntosh
HF: D Martin, B Lennon, K Lambert
F: J Riewoldt, B Deledio, T Vickery
Fol: I Maric, S Grigg, T Hunt
Int From: D Grimes, A Miles, S Lloyd, S Edwards, B Griffiths, R Conca, S Morris
In: S Morris, B Griffiths, R Conca
Winning experience
If Sunday’s clash is still tight heading into the dying stages, the reaction of both teams to the situation may determine the game.
According to Todd Goldstein, North will be well-versed by their two thrilling victories in 2014.
"That confidence that we've been there, we've been in that situation where we've been getting smashed at half-time and we've come back, or we were smashing Geelong and they came back and we had to hold on,” the ruckman told SEN on Thursday.
"We feel like we've got a lot of confidence from those games and that we know our best footy can match up with anyone."
Meanwhile Richmond has lost its last two elimination finals; one a close defeat against Carlton in 2013 and the other a comprehensive loss to Port Adelaide in 2014.
With a lot of pressure on the current group of Tigers to break their finals duck, the tension at a packed MCG will be tangible come Sunday afternoon.
The ruck battle
When North defeated Richmond at Blundstone Arena earlier this season, Todd Goldstein was crucial in the third quarter burst – around the ground.
The Roo earned votes from the coaches for his performance in Round 6, and if he matches his performance with his normal work at stoppages, he could be his team’s most important player this time around.
Goldstein and Maric are likely to go one-on-one for the entire afternoon. If the former can start flexing his muscle and giving his midfielders first use at ground level, it could potentially force the Tigers to change their setup at stoppages.
Well rested and ready to write another page in his career-best season, Goldstein’s performance will be critical for the Kangaroos.
Pressuring the ball carrier
Richmond’s game style relies heavily on controlling the ball with short disposal in its back half.
It means North’s forwards will have to be right on top of their pressure game to stop the Tigers from clearing easily.
The blueprint was demonstrated in the first half of Round 23, when the Kangaroos harassed and pressured Richmond. Amongst other areas, a 46-25 advantage in the tackle count meant the Tigers had little time to dispose cleanly, and they only kicked 2.7 to half time.
On the larger expanses of the MCG and with warm conditions forecast, it will be difficult to maintain the rage for the full four quarters. However, it is unquestionably the key to forcing turnovers and stopping Richmond from posting a winning score.
North Melbourne will hold an open training session this Saturday (September 12, 2015) at Arden Street from 11.15am-12.00pm.
