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The North Melbourne Kangaroos host the Brisbane Lions at Etihad stadium on Saturday afternoon. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4:40pm (AEST).
It has taken until the 17th of May for Melbourne-based Brisbane supporters to get a glimpse of their side for the first time this season, but unfortunately for them, on paper this looks like it should be a relatively straight forward victory for the Kangaroos.
The form fluctuations of North Melbourne are a worrying sign looking towards the business end of the season and this is a must win game for them if they wish to keep their top 6 aspirations heading in the right direction.
A loss here could signal disaster and throw up even more questions regarding the mental fragility of North when they go in as favourites.
The Lions on the other hand have little to lose. Fans will be hoping to see a lot of effort and a stifling of North’s ability to get effective disposal; this brought about their downfall against Essendon and Collingwood. If the Lions apply the same amount of pressure they did against Essendon then all of a sudden the game becomes a lot more interesting.
Still, even with the most manic of pressure it’s difficult to see North Melbourne not being raring to go here. After their second calamitous loss to the Gold Coast Suns in as many seasons and coming in to the game refreshed from the bye, they’ll be out to exact revenge on the lesser of the Queensland sides.
They won’t just want a win, they’ll want a big one to mitigate some of the potential percentage pain that could come later in the year (at the moment, all ten clubs above North Melbourne have percentage’s over 100, while North just crack 95).
If it seems like one can easily downplay North then on the other side of the coin it’s easy to roll out a list of superlatives about their fantastic victories against Port Adelaide, Sydney and Fremantle in the west. North’s best can match it with anyone in the competition and this is yet another reason that they need to use this game to make a statement to the football world that they have that killer instinct.
Personnel wise North Melbourne have cut down their backline in terms of size which seems an intelligent move on paper. Brisbane’s forward line has struggled to score all year, averaging only nine goals a game. The Kangaroos will be hoping that their increased speed and agility in defense will allow them to cut Brisbane up on the rebound.
The Lions also struggle heavily against small forwards, something the Kangaroos have identified by bringing in Robin Nahas for another go. If ever there was a game for Nahas to cement his spot, this is his chance. For Brisbane the concept of stopping Thomas and Harvey alone is a nightmarish one, so throwing an extra small in the mix makes it even more of a head scratcher.
The big one for North is welcoming back their skipper, Andrew Swallow, after a long layoff. It’s of course difficult to tell if he’ll have an instant impact upon his return but he’ll bolster the inside strength of North regardless. Brisbane coach Justin Leppitsch has flagged his intentions to restrict Swallow, but the Lions have been warm to the idea of applying a hard tag this season. Expect Tom Rockliff or Jack Redden to play in a head-to-head role against Swallow.
While on the topic of long layoffs, Claye Beams returns to the Brisbane line-up for the first time since Round 15 last year. He’ll add some much needed class and goalkicking nous to the Lions, but may well start as sub due to a lack of match fitness.
Sam Mayes is a big loss for Brisbane given his own class and precise skills, while Nick Robertson is obviously in need of a rest after a bullocking start to the year.
Brisbane desperately need their senior players to stand up if they are to be any chance. The likes of Marco Paparone, Lewis Taylor, James Aish and Tom Cutler have all been mini-revelations this season, but they cannot be expected to carry any more of the load than they have to date. The players with a few years in the system: Golby, Lisle, Merrett, Zorko and Lester to name a few, need to take on more of the heavy lifting.
Perhaps Brisbane’s biggest worry this season has come in red time, especially in the third quarter. While they improved this area slightly against Essendon, every other week as their inexperienced line-up has tired they’ve been overran. For a stark example of this, if you eliminate red time scores from their huge loss to Port Adelaide earlier in the season, the final margin sits at a respectable 33 point loss (rather than the 113 point belting it turned out to be).
Prediction: North will come out firing at home and it’s near impossible to see the Lions matching their midfield class (both inside and out), tall forward line and marking machine defensive six. Simply put, Brisbane will need to right too many wrongs from this season to get over the line, but if their pressure is manic from the first bounce it should at least be a good contest.
North by 44.
Join The Roar at 4:40pm (AEST) as we follow all the live action. Please post any questions, thoughts, banter and factoids below as we gear up for the clash.
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