As we go into the penultimate round of the home & away season, spare a thought for Ticky009 who's recovering from surgery. Let's hope the boys give you something to smile about today, Tick!
Now, on to the game.
Funny old fixture this one. It's deadly important that we maintain the killer instinct and keep momentum in the final weeks of the season. Having said that, we really have very little to play for as, barring something extraordinary happening, we finish 6th no matter what.
One of the most important things come finals is a club’s injury list and up til this week ours has been the envy of the competition. That may be beginning to fade as Horse has rung some big changes for the Kangas. Resting Buddy could well mean the big fella’ll need 8 or 9 grand final goal to reach the thousand. Stephens is gone and probably gone for good. While the big surprise is Jake Lloyd who's having a very rare week off. I can't remember the last time Jake missed a game.
Just as disappointing for Swans fans is the absence of Millsy for the second game in a row as he battles an Achilles strain. And with only two games left til September there’s still no call up for the Chad. Time is running out for the Swans' board favorite.
In better news, Braeden Campbell pulls on the boots this week for his first senior game since late April. Lewis Melican is back to add another big body in defense. While at the other end, Hayden McLean gets the chance to build on his breakthrough season in Buddy's absence. There's been complaints about the omission of Logan McDonald this week but let’s be honest - McLean's rarely let us down year. Hopefully he can slot a few more goals today.
I don't need to tell any of you guys what a delight it's been to watch the team over the past couple of months - 5 wins on the trot in one of our toughest runs in the fixture. I suspect I wasn’t the only one starting to dream big. Then we get a bit of a wake up call against the Saints last week. It might well be a blessing in disguise and either way, you can't question the character of the team given their extended stint away from home. It's been one crazy season.
Was it a mere blip? Was it the loss we had to have? As one poster put it this week, perhaps more important than the loss is the team's response. Today the boys get their chance to do just that.
North Melbourne
The Roos were the early season basket case. They didn't just lose their first 8 games, they kinda got hammered. It was only a round 9 meeting in Tassie before they snuck a win against the hapless Hawks.
Since then, North have proved to be the competition's big improvers. They've been consistently competitive, beating the Suns, West Coast and Carlton as well as pinching a draw against the Giants.
And while they still remain bottom of the table, things have changed in recent weeks and North are a team playing well above expectations. David Noble has got the boys up and about. Veterans Ziebell, Tarrant and Goldstein have been refreshed by the youthful brigade of guys like Zurhaar and David-Unieke. Jaidyn Stephenson's been a handy recruit and the Roos have found a quality replacement for Ben Brown in Nick Larkey. 199cm Charlie Comden will debut for North today.
For a team that took a while to get going, North have won 2 of their last five. In Power ranking terms they're definitely a team on the rise. Roos fans will be buoyed by the lure of a number one draft pick to join their youthful squad which is closing out 2021 with plenty of promise. And they have absolutely nothing to lose.
North will fancy a challenge against the 6th placed Swans. And history suggests they normally give us a run for our money. The Swans are 3-2 in our past five outings.
There may not be much to play for, but Horse stressed this week the importance of keeping the best team we could on the park. To me that suggests the boys know how important it is to finish the season with our foot to the floor. North may be the big improvers but only one of these two teams is fine tuning for a tilt in September. I reckon we get the job done.
Swans by 21 points.
Now, on to the game.
Funny old fixture this one. It's deadly important that we maintain the killer instinct and keep momentum in the final weeks of the season. Having said that, we really have very little to play for as, barring something extraordinary happening, we finish 6th no matter what.
One of the most important things come finals is a club’s injury list and up til this week ours has been the envy of the competition. That may be beginning to fade as Horse has rung some big changes for the Kangas. Resting Buddy could well mean the big fella’ll need 8 or 9 grand final goal to reach the thousand. Stephens is gone and probably gone for good. While the big surprise is Jake Lloyd who's having a very rare week off. I can't remember the last time Jake missed a game.
Just as disappointing for Swans fans is the absence of Millsy for the second game in a row as he battles an Achilles strain. And with only two games left til September there’s still no call up for the Chad. Time is running out for the Swans' board favorite.
In better news, Braeden Campbell pulls on the boots this week for his first senior game since late April. Lewis Melican is back to add another big body in defense. While at the other end, Hayden McLean gets the chance to build on his breakthrough season in Buddy's absence. There's been complaints about the omission of Logan McDonald this week but let’s be honest - McLean's rarely let us down year. Hopefully he can slot a few more goals today.
I don't need to tell any of you guys what a delight it's been to watch the team over the past couple of months - 5 wins on the trot in one of our toughest runs in the fixture. I suspect I wasn’t the only one starting to dream big. Then we get a bit of a wake up call against the Saints last week. It might well be a blessing in disguise and either way, you can't question the character of the team given their extended stint away from home. It's been one crazy season.
Was it a mere blip? Was it the loss we had to have? As one poster put it this week, perhaps more important than the loss is the team's response. Today the boys get their chance to do just that.
North Melbourne
The Roos were the early season basket case. They didn't just lose their first 8 games, they kinda got hammered. It was only a round 9 meeting in Tassie before they snuck a win against the hapless Hawks.
Since then, North have proved to be the competition's big improvers. They've been consistently competitive, beating the Suns, West Coast and Carlton as well as pinching a draw against the Giants.
And while they still remain bottom of the table, things have changed in recent weeks and North are a team playing well above expectations. David Noble has got the boys up and about. Veterans Ziebell, Tarrant and Goldstein have been refreshed by the youthful brigade of guys like Zurhaar and David-Unieke. Jaidyn Stephenson's been a handy recruit and the Roos have found a quality replacement for Ben Brown in Nick Larkey. 199cm Charlie Comden will debut for North today.
For a team that took a while to get going, North have won 2 of their last five. In Power ranking terms they're definitely a team on the rise. Roos fans will be buoyed by the lure of a number one draft pick to join their youthful squad which is closing out 2021 with plenty of promise. And they have absolutely nothing to lose.
North will fancy a challenge against the 6th placed Swans. And history suggests they normally give us a run for our money. The Swans are 3-2 in our past five outings.
There may not be much to play for, but Horse stressed this week the importance of keeping the best team we could on the park. To me that suggests the boys know how important it is to finish the season with our foot to the floor. North may be the big improvers but only one of these two teams is fine tuning for a tilt in September. I reckon we get the job done.
Swans by 21 points.
Last edited:
