What had been shaping as a rather lacklustre first half of the AFL split round has been illuminated by two all-Victorian clashes involving the four clubs battling for eighth spot. Both games will have a huge bearing on how the season pans out for the combatants.

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But in many ways that’s where the similarity ends.

Having spurned the Gold Coast last year in favour of staying true to their suburban roots, North Melbourne are somewhat on the nose on the tourist strip.

As such, their “home” clash at Carrara against St Kilda on Saturday night probably won’t go close to filling the stadium which boasts a capacity of just 14,000.

Compare that to what will be taking place at the MCG earlier in the day.

True, the attendance for Saturday’s clash between Richmond and Carlton will fall somewhat short of the “100G at the G” being optimistically spruiked by the Tigers’ marketing department.

But not necessarily by much.

Unlike every other clash between the two traditional rivals since their meeting in the 2001 first semi-final, this is a blockbuster in more than name only.

Aside from the genuine enmity between the two clubs with huge supporter bases, Richmond are using the match to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their inclusion in the VFL/AFL.

But more importantly, after too many years in the doldrums, the Tigers and the Blues appear finally to be on the up and up.

Chris Judd, Brendan Fevola and No.1 draft pick Matthew Kreuzer are giving Blues fans three reasons to look forward to coming to the footy again.

Ditto Matthew Richardson, a resurgent Nathan Brown and No.2 draft selection Trent Cotchin at Richmond.

For fans of a certain age, the clash before a crowd tipped to top 80,000 will revive glorious memories of the era from 1967-82 when the two clubs met in 11 finals, including four grand finals.

Richmond topped the September ledger 7-3 (plus one draw) during that time, although Carlton won two of the four grand finals including the remarkable shoot-out in 1972, when the Tigers booted 22 goals and still lost by 27 points.

Richmond are still filthy that John Nicholls took a dive to get Tigers favourite Neville Crowe suspended for the 1967 grand final.

As are Carlton for Richmond’s rugged approach in the 1973 decider when Laurie Fowler decked Nicholls and Neil Balme broke Blues fullback Geoff Southby’s jaw.

At times it was almost class warfare between the bluebloods of Carlton and the proudly working-class Tigers.

It’s the sort of history that St Kilda and North Melbourne can’t come close to equalling.

Their only-ever playoff clash was in a preliminary final 11 years ago, when St Kilda got up before crashing out to Adelaide in the big one the following week.

But there will still be plenty at stake on the field at Carrara on Saturday, even if the attention of the wider football community will be focused largely on events more than 1,800km to the south.

North are best-placed of the four clubs to claim the last berth in the finals – an impression that will grow stronger if they down the Saints.

And looking further ahead to the introduction of the new Gold Coast team in 2011, even more eyes than usual will be on St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt and – to a lesser extent – North ruck-forward David Hale.

Both grew up in the area and are certain to be prime recruiting targets for Queensland’s second AFL team.

© AAP 2012

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