Carlton v North Melbourne
Saturday, July 24 - 1:45pm AEST
Marvel Stadium

After some last-minute rescheduling, Round 19 is finally upon us as North Melbourne look to do battle with Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

North heads into the clash on the back of arguably its strongest vein of form of the season, with wins against West Coast in Perth and Gold Coast in Hobart, supplemented by strong performances against Essendon and the Western Bulldogs.

While not getting over the line in last week’s clash with the Bombers, the Roos’ young midfield stood up brilliantly to take the game to All-Australian hopefuls Darcy Parish and Zach Merrett, while the forward line looks to be improving every week.

Tarryn Thomas impressed with 23 disposals and a goal, while Jy Simpkin registered 7 tackles and 7 clearances, as he led the North midfield in the absence of Ben Cunnington.

Nick Larkey was dangerous with 3 goals, while Curtis Taylor’s 15 disposal, 7 mark, 2 goal performance was arguably the best of his young career.

Carlton enters the clash having defeated Collingwood by 29 points. Sam Walsh had 39 disposals and a goal, while Harry McKay kicked 4 majors of his own.

North’s midfield will be bolstered by the return of Ben Cunnington and Jed Anderson, with Atu Bosenavulagi also coming into the side. Jack Mahony (AC joint), Robbie Tarrant (adductor) and Charlie Lazzaro (omitted) missing out.

Patrick Cripps has been named as a return, while Matthew Owies comes back into the side due to the late exclusion of Harry McKay (toe).

Last time we met:

Round 8, 2020

A second half comeback and some accurate goal kicking were not enough for North last time against the Blues, with Carlton overcoming a spirited side by seven points.

After being down by 23 points at quarter time on a wet Gabba deck, North mounted a strong effort to regain touching distance with the Blues, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.

Bailey Scott kicked a career-high 3 goals in the clash, while Jed Anderson showed his ability on both sides of the football with 7 tackles and 4 clearances. Luke McDonald finished with a game-high 9 intercepts.

Ed Curnow finished with 19 disposals and 10 tackles for the Blues, while Matthew Kennedy kicked 2 goals from 20 touches.

The matchup:

Todd Goldstein v Tom de Koning 

Before the late exclusion of Harry McKay, the only correct answer to the question of the key matchup was the battle of the McKay’s, Ben and Harry locking horns for the first time in their AFL careers.

For the second time in two years though, Harry has been excluded from Carlton’s side against North due to injury, leaving a number of other key clashes across the ground to come to the fore.

Injuries to Alex Mirkov and Marc Pittonet have left Carlton with just one ruck left, young Tom De Koning.

At 203 centimetres and 100 kilograms, the ruck/forward is well built for the craft and impressed last weekend against All-Australian Brodie Grundy, registering 20 hitouts, 4 clearances and a goal.

After holding his own against one of the league’s best rucks, De Koning now has to back that effort up by taking on the AFL’s all-time hitout leader in Todd Goldstein.

Registering over 30 hitouts in six of his last seven games, Goldstein’s tap work and increased tap numbers have been imperative to North’s rise in form over the course of the season, with the veteran playing his best game of the season in the win over Gold Coast.

While Goldstein will have a more traditional ruck in Tristan Xerri supporting him, Jack Silvagni has been taking on the bulk of the secondary ruck duties for Carlton in recent weeks despite being a natural forward.

De Koning’s contributions in the ruck will be vital to Carlton’s chances of walking away with a win, however Goldstein could be the biggest challenge of his young career.

The key men:

Tarryn Thomas and Sam Walsh

Tarryn Thomas is playing like a man possessed in 2021. After finally being rewarded with the midfield time he so desperately craved, he’s making the most of his time in the middle.

Averaging 17.2 disposals, 1.1 goals, 3.2 tackles and 5.5 score involvements per game this season, he’s supplementing his time in the middle of the ground with lethal impact in the forward 50.

His composure and x-factor have been pillars on which North is building its young midfield, with the inside work of the likes of Ben Cunnington and Luke Davies-Uniacke allowing Thomas to play a dangerous outside role.

With 23 disposals, 7 tackles, 9 marks and a goal against Essendon last week, Thomas put in the type of top tier performance that’s becoming a regular occurrence and he’ll be hoping to back it up with another strong outing.

Coming from the same draft class as Thomas, Sam Walsh is quickly turning into one of the best midfielders in the AFL, at the ripe age of 21.

Few players can come into the AFL and have as large an immediate impact as he has, with the former number one pick easily one of Carlton’s most important players at this early point in his career.

Averaging over 30 disposals a game this season, Walsh’s 39 touches and goal were instrumental in his side’s win last weekend, and he’s hitting the scoreboard more than ever before, with 9 goals so far in 2021.

North will be hoping the return of inside bulls Cunnington and Jed Anderson help limit the impact of Walsh, however he’s been limited to fewer than 24 disposals just once this season.

The stat:

Patrick Cripps is undoubtedly a massive inclusion for Carlton this week. Not only is he the club’s co-captain, but he’s the heart and soul of the club. The face of a side on the up.

This clash will be the seventh time in Cripps’ career he’s been named as an inclusion into the side, dating back to his debut in 2014.

Averaging 22.5 disposals, 5.5 tackles and 5.5 clearances in his return games, those numbers are relatively consistent with the rest of his career averages of 25.1 disposals, 5.6 tackles and 7.0 clearances per game.

With 63 goals in 134 career games, he averages just under a goal in every two games, however he has never kicked a goal in his first game back in the senior side.

When the going gets tough and the game is on the line, Carlton often look to Cripps to produce that big moment. If North can keep him off the scoreboard it could go a long way to deciding this clash.