North Melbourne take on West Coast
North Melbourne v West Coast
Blundstone Arena – 1:45PM – Saturday 7 July
North Melbourne will attempt to reclaim their position in the top eight by upsetting the high flying West Coast Eagles at Blundstone Arena, Saturday July 7.
Having been displaced by Carlton after their upset win last night against Collingwood, North Melbourne now find themselves sitting out side the top eight by percentage.
West Coast on the other hand have an opportunity to over take Collingwood with a win, which could be crucial to cementing a top four position come seasons end.
The scene is set for what promises to be an intriguing match up at North Melbourne’s new Tasmanian home.
It is only the second game North Melbourne have hosted at the venue, with the previous result being a 129 point thumping over GWS.
This means that the ground will be seemingly new to both teams, catering for a sense of neutrality.
A difficulty faced by the Eagles however is they have had to catch two flight just to get to the ground, which may see some tired legs come the fourth quarter.
The two sides have already met this year, with the Eagles prevailing by 25 points at Patersons stadium in round 6.
West Coast has not defeated North Melbourne away from since 2007 and they’ll have to work extremely hard to take the win from the hard running Kangaroos.
The Eagles will welcome back quality defender Will Schofield and Sam Butler to the side while North remain unchanged after their impressive effort last week.
Key Match Ups
Daniel Wells v Scott Selwood
Daniel Wells was sublime last week and is a common architect of North Melbourne’s wins. It is crucial that West Coast negates Wells’ influence on the contest and that task should fall to Scott Selwood. While Selwood has been just as effective on the offensive side this year, West Coast would be willing to sacrifice that offence in order to marginalise Wells.
Todd Goldstein v Dean Cox/Nic Naitanui
Goldstein has recaptured the form that saw him reach such lofty heights last year. This week however he faces the biggest test in the competition, an in form Naitanui and Cox combination. Having excelled in being the sole ruckman in the team, Goldstein must remain competitive through out the game in order to give the North Melbourne midfielders ample opportunity to win clearances. Cox and Naitanui will need to exploit this advantage and having an impact both around the ground and deep forward to run Goldstein over.
Prediction: West Coast by 6 points
Teams
North Melbourne
B: Luke Delaney, Scott McMahon, Michael Firrito
HB: Shaun Atley, Nathan Grima, Sam Gibson
C: Ryan Bastinac, Daniel Wells, Samuel Wright
HF: Liam Anthony, Robert Tarrant, Brent Harvey
F: Lachlan Hansen, Drew Petrie, Matt Campbell
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Andrew Swallow, Jack Ziebell
I/C: Lindsay Thomas, Leigh Adams, Jamie Macmillan, Kieran Harper
Emg: Cruize Garlett, Will Sierakowski, Cameron Pederson
West Coast Eagles
B: Beau Waters, Darren Glass, Will Schofield
HB: Shannon Hurn, Eric Mackenzie, Sam Butler
C: Matthew Rosa, Matthew Priddis, Andrew Gaff
HF: Ashton Hams, Quinten Lynch, Chris Masten
F: Nic Naitanui, Jack Darling, Daniel Kerr
Foll: Dean Cox, Scott Selwood, Luke Shuey
I/C: Patrick McGinnity, Jacob Brennan, Josh Hill, Murray Newman
Emg: Mitch Brown, Thomas Swift, Koby Stevens
In: Sam Butler, Will Schofield
Out: Mitch Brown, Brad Sheppard (Ankle)
Pre-game discussions threads
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