Last time they met
West Coast Eagles - 1.2 6.3 13.7 17.8 (110)
North Melbourne Kangaroos - 1.4 4.5 6.9 10.12 (72)
Both teams started slowly but West Coast kicked on in the second quarter and continued their late season run with North never looking threatening. Priddis continued his strong form against North Melbourne and Tim Houlihan had a breakout game, giving the fans hope of a quality wingman. Unfortunately the match also saw two of West Coasts promising youngsters struck down with injury in Masten and Brown.
Preview
Both the Eagles and North will be heading into this match knowing that a win is imperative. Showing up and putting on a strong performance will not be enough to appease their respective fans if they do not get the four points. Each team comes into the match off very disappointing performances but in different circumstances. West Coast dominated the match against Port Adelaide at times and had 23 more inside 50’s yet a mixture of poor decision making and abysmal foot skills meant that they could not capitalise and ultimately fell short by 3 points. North Melbourne on the other hand was thrashed of the triple figure kind by St Kilda. The Roos actually won the clearance count against the Saints but the Saints extreme pressure saw North lose out in general play as they repeatedly gave the ball back, much the same as West Coast. They have a new coach in Brad Scott and it may take him some time to work out his team but he does appear to get his match ups and player positioning wrong. Goldstein was on Riewoldt at times and Wright seems to be playing on the last line of defence when he is clearly a forward.
It was apparent last weekend that West Coast missed LeCras in the forward line with his ability to make strong leads and become one out with his opponent but most importantly his nous around goals when the ball hits the deck. The Eagles continuously pumped the ball long and high into the forward 50 on top of their key forwards heads who were always outnumbered and often stagnant. To make matters worse Worsfold attempts to patch the small forward hole with his young upcoming midfielders, robbing the team of the creativity they bring to the midfield.
Fans will be looking for the likes of Shuey and Masten to spend more time in the centre instead of Selwood and McGinnity but they will most likely be disenchanted. Until the likes of Weedon, Neates and Broome are ready for AFL Worsfold has few other options to play as the small forward. As a positive it looked like the team did not need Lynch up forward as Brown and Kennedy looked a formidable team. The partnership should be persisted with as there is more potential in it and Brown will improve as the season progresses.
West Coast has a formidable record against North Melbourne, only losing 1 game from 6 since 2005 (and by a single goal). West Coast tends to comfortably win their home games against North but the away games are always much closer. It can be expected that the Roos will come out with a high intensity which the Eagles have been susceptible to in the last couple of years. West Coast will need to keep their heads and look to play fast and direct football to manoeuvre around Norths press and create space for their forwards. The quality of disposal needs to dramatically improve – especially from the likes of Embley, Mackenzie, and Selwood. We need Daniel Kerr to get involved more and this means team mates need to help him beat his tag.
In my view we should beat Norths midfield and with LeCras back we have enough firepower to kick a winning score. Our issue will be whether our defence can hold out with our two best small defenders and reliable kicks missing in Butler and Hurn. North have a bounty load of small forwards who West Coast traditionally struggle to negate. If our midfield are reasonable in stemming the flow from North and can kick in front of our forwards rather than on top of their heads then we have no excuses. Unfortunately I don’t think West Coast or North are good enough to drastically improve on their deficiencies from the previous week and it could turn into an ugly match with turnovers a plenty. The team which capitalises on these turnovers the best will come out the winner.
Key Match-ups
Swallow v Priddis
Priddis just loves to play against the Roos. He has averaged 29disposals in his 4 games against them and kicked a whopping 5 goals and 2 behinds. Incredible! Swallow is a tackling machine and a similar player to Priddis so expect them to lock horns and the match up will go a fair way in deciding the clearance count.
Grima v Kennedy
Kennedy is our focal point in attack. We are looking for him more and more and he is a generally accurate shot at goal so North need to stop him. Even with limited chances last week he was able to kick 4 goals.
Anthony aka The Running Man v Swift/McGinnity
I’m not entirely sure who will match up on Anthony but all I know is we must try and contain him. The kid just runs and runs and runs and will launch most of North’s attacks. McGinnity could be a good option in trying to curb his influence. I wouldn’t mind sacrificing a player to stop Anthony as I think if we stop him then we go a long way to winning.
Other match ups that could be decisive are Selwood on Harvey (who will be looking for a big game after the worst game of his career) and whether or not Kerr gets a tight tag because if he doesn’t we all know he has the ability to run rampant. Brad Scott would not be so foolish would he? I wonder.
Prediction: West Coast by 14 points
West Coast Eagles - 1.2 6.3 13.7 17.8 (110)
North Melbourne Kangaroos - 1.4 4.5 6.9 10.12 (72)
Both teams started slowly but West Coast kicked on in the second quarter and continued their late season run with North never looking threatening. Priddis continued his strong form against North Melbourne and Tim Houlihan had a breakout game, giving the fans hope of a quality wingman. Unfortunately the match also saw two of West Coasts promising youngsters struck down with injury in Masten and Brown.
Preview
Both the Eagles and North will be heading into this match knowing that a win is imperative. Showing up and putting on a strong performance will not be enough to appease their respective fans if they do not get the four points. Each team comes into the match off very disappointing performances but in different circumstances. West Coast dominated the match against Port Adelaide at times and had 23 more inside 50’s yet a mixture of poor decision making and abysmal foot skills meant that they could not capitalise and ultimately fell short by 3 points. North Melbourne on the other hand was thrashed of the triple figure kind by St Kilda. The Roos actually won the clearance count against the Saints but the Saints extreme pressure saw North lose out in general play as they repeatedly gave the ball back, much the same as West Coast. They have a new coach in Brad Scott and it may take him some time to work out his team but he does appear to get his match ups and player positioning wrong. Goldstein was on Riewoldt at times and Wright seems to be playing on the last line of defence when he is clearly a forward.
It was apparent last weekend that West Coast missed LeCras in the forward line with his ability to make strong leads and become one out with his opponent but most importantly his nous around goals when the ball hits the deck. The Eagles continuously pumped the ball long and high into the forward 50 on top of their key forwards heads who were always outnumbered and often stagnant. To make matters worse Worsfold attempts to patch the small forward hole with his young upcoming midfielders, robbing the team of the creativity they bring to the midfield.
Fans will be looking for the likes of Shuey and Masten to spend more time in the centre instead of Selwood and McGinnity but they will most likely be disenchanted. Until the likes of Weedon, Neates and Broome are ready for AFL Worsfold has few other options to play as the small forward. As a positive it looked like the team did not need Lynch up forward as Brown and Kennedy looked a formidable team. The partnership should be persisted with as there is more potential in it and Brown will improve as the season progresses.
West Coast has a formidable record against North Melbourne, only losing 1 game from 6 since 2005 (and by a single goal). West Coast tends to comfortably win their home games against North but the away games are always much closer. It can be expected that the Roos will come out with a high intensity which the Eagles have been susceptible to in the last couple of years. West Coast will need to keep their heads and look to play fast and direct football to manoeuvre around Norths press and create space for their forwards. The quality of disposal needs to dramatically improve – especially from the likes of Embley, Mackenzie, and Selwood. We need Daniel Kerr to get involved more and this means team mates need to help him beat his tag.
In my view we should beat Norths midfield and with LeCras back we have enough firepower to kick a winning score. Our issue will be whether our defence can hold out with our two best small defenders and reliable kicks missing in Butler and Hurn. North have a bounty load of small forwards who West Coast traditionally struggle to negate. If our midfield are reasonable in stemming the flow from North and can kick in front of our forwards rather than on top of their heads then we have no excuses. Unfortunately I don’t think West Coast or North are good enough to drastically improve on their deficiencies from the previous week and it could turn into an ugly match with turnovers a plenty. The team which capitalises on these turnovers the best will come out the winner.
Key Match-ups
Swallow v Priddis
Priddis just loves to play against the Roos. He has averaged 29disposals in his 4 games against them and kicked a whopping 5 goals and 2 behinds. Incredible! Swallow is a tackling machine and a similar player to Priddis so expect them to lock horns and the match up will go a fair way in deciding the clearance count.
Grima v Kennedy
Kennedy is our focal point in attack. We are looking for him more and more and he is a generally accurate shot at goal so North need to stop him. Even with limited chances last week he was able to kick 4 goals.
Anthony aka The Running Man v Swift/McGinnity
I’m not entirely sure who will match up on Anthony but all I know is we must try and contain him. The kid just runs and runs and runs and will launch most of North’s attacks. McGinnity could be a good option in trying to curb his influence. I wouldn’t mind sacrificing a player to stop Anthony as I think if we stop him then we go a long way to winning.
Other match ups that could be decisive are Selwood on Harvey (who will be looking for a big game after the worst game of his career) and whether or not Kerr gets a tight tag because if he doesn’t we all know he has the ability to run rampant. Brad Scott would not be so foolish would he? I wonder.
Prediction: West Coast by 14 points
