- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Two top-four aspirants face off when the North Melbourne Kangaroos host the Port Adelaide Power, with neither side having lived up to their pre-season hype as yet.
North Melbourne recovered from an embarrassing start to the season by annihilating the Brisbane Lions to the tune of 82 points.
How many times have we seen this over the past few seasons, North losing, winning comfortably and then performing poorly once again? Brad Scott is yet to find the cure for his side’s lack of consistency.
Port Adelaide haven’t lost any admirers in their two losses, yet the fact that opposition sides have lifted their defensive game significantly against them should have Ken Hinkley looking for a plan B of sorts.
A barometer of this game will be the match-up between Scott Thompson and Jay Schulz. Schulz has managed to chalk up 16 goals in his last four outings against the Kangaroos, but Thompson has shown significant improvement in between drinks, over 370 days ago. Schulz will celebrate his 30th birthday at Ethiad Stadium and will be desperately looking to make use of his opportunities after just two goals in the opening two rounds.
Port may just have the class to exploit the Roos’ shaky defence, who are well known to go through some major concentration lapses. If the likes of Chad Wingard, Angus Monfries, Schulz and Justin Westhoff can hit the scoreboard early, North may drop their heads and set the tone for the rest of the day.
A fortnight ago North had no answer for Adelaide’s hot forwards, yet Scott has made it clear that he intends to keep the faith in his defensive unit.
Meanwhile, Port’s midfield has to lift after a poor couple of outings to start the season. They are well down in the contested possession department and have been smashed in the clearances, suggesting the likes of Travis Boak, Ollie Wines, Robbie Gray and Brad Ebert must improve.
Historically, North Melbourne have the wood over Port Adelaide, the Roos dominating the wins tally at 21-8 over their 18 years of fixtures. Interestingly, Port has never defeated North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium (including Telstra Dome era) during the premiership season.
In selection news veteran Nick Dal Santo will miss his first game in five years after being sent for hamstring surgery. Scott has opted for swingman Robbie Tarrant, meaning Joel Tippet has been dropped.
The feel-good story of this round will be the return of Nathan Krakouer to the Port line-up. After walking out on the club in 2010 with 40 games under his belt, Krakouer joined Gold Coast for its inaugural season in 2011 before retiring after just 13 games. In a shock move he returned to Alberton in 2014 to play for the Magpies and after an extraordinary season he was redrafted to the Power as a rookie in December.
He is likely start on the ground and will add some speed to the backline, as the ideal replacement for Jarman Impey, who will miss three weeks with a hamstring tear. Veteran Kane Cornes has been rested, while Jarrad Redden and Jake Neade have been omitted.
Both North and Port love to score openly, and we could see waves of goals through this contest. But Port Adelaide is the better side here and in the absence of Dal Santo they should get up.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.