LAST TIME: West Coast 13.14 (92) d North Melbourne 13.10 (88), round one, 2011 at Patersons Stadium
West Coast remains atop the AFL ladder after its thrilling win over Richmond at Etihad Stadium, but a significant challenge looms for the club after Josh Kennedy's ankle injury. North Melbourne is buoyed by the form of a number of emerging young players and already has one big scalp this year in Geelong. The Roos were 34-point winners against Gold Coast in round five and will travel west believing they're a chance against a wounded opponent.
THE FOUR POINTS
WEST COAST
1. The Eagles had already lost forwards Mark LeCras (knee) and Mark Nicoski (hamstring), but replacing Josh Kennedy (ankle) will be the team's biggest hurdle yet. The star forward will miss up to 12 weeks, robbing the Eagles of their three most productive forwards of 2011. Teenage star Jack Darling will now have a bigger role in attack, but it will be tough for the Eagles to retain their tall structure.
2. West Coast's depth will also be tested in defence, with key backman Will Schofield suspended for two matches. Eric Mackenzie (ear infection) is expected to return and replace Mitch Brown (eye), but Schofield plays both tall and small and is a tough player to replace. One of Jacob Brennan or Brad Sheppard could fill the role in a test of the team's reserve stocks.
3. Can Shannon Hurn break free of the defensive forwards? One week after being held to seven possessions by Hawthorn's Cameron Bruce, the damaging half-back had just 12 disposals against Richmond stopper Daniel Jackson. Beau Waters has been able to break free and average 22 touches over the last fortnight as a result, but Hurn is a player the Eagles want with the football.
4. As brilliant as Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox have been in the ruck this season, they haven't fired consistently when pushing forward. With four goals each from five games, both will need to lift their attacking output now that Kennedy is injured and help stretch opposition backlines.
NORTH MELBOURNE
1. The Kangaroos have been unconvincing since beating Geelong in round three and will have to lift if they're to topple West Coast at Patersons Stadium. But taking on the unbeaten Eagles gives North another opportunity to show it now has the game-plan and emerging player depth to compete with the AFL's best teams. The Kangaroos' fast-moving ball movement also seems suited to the wide, open expanses of Patersons Stadium.
2. North has won four of its 13 games against the Eagles at Patersons Stadium since 1987, but just one of the past seven. When you include its clashes with Fremantle, North has won nine of 23 games at the venue, but just two of its past 10. At the WACA, which is no longer used for AFL games, the Kangaroos and Eagles split their six contests from 1987-95 three apiece. Since Brad Scott took over as coach in 2010, North has played 13 games outside Victoria and won five.
3. West Coast's Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui form one of the most damaging ruck combinations in the AFL. At the start of this season, the Kangaroos were confident Todd Goldstein and Hamish McIntosh could form a similarly effective partnership. However, Goldstein was dropped following a quiet first five rounds. Goldstein responded with an outstanding game in the VFL last Sunday and the Kangaroos will seriously reconsider recalling him so they can match the Eagles' ruck power.
4. If Josh Kennedy had played, North would have been tempted to play another key defender to combat the Eagles' four-pronged forward line. But with Kennedy ruled out through injury, and rain forecast for Sunday's game, the Kangaroos may decide that with Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito and Luke Delaney they can cover Jack Darling, Quinten Lynch and Cox/Naitanui.
AFL.com.au prediction: West Coast by 28 points
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
