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The North Melbourne Kangaroos have the chance to seal their place in the finals when they meet the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 1:10pm (AEST).
If other results go their way and there’s a good chance they might, North could even go a long way to sealing fifth or sixth spot thus ensuring a home final in the first week of the finals.
But they are up against a young feisty Bulldogs team, that apart from two heavy losses to Port and Hawthorn, have been very competitive the last two months, with wins against the Pies and the Suns and narrow losses against the Cats and Bombers.
The biggest question for this match though is which North Melbourne will turn up to play, as the Roos have been one of the most unpredictable teams of the competition this season.
Will it be the good Roos, which have beaten the Swans, Eagles and Dockers on the road as well as the Hawks a few weeks ago at Etihad. Or will it be the bad Roos that gets blown away a young Suns team at home or dominates the first fifteen minutes of the game against the lowly Lions, then falls asleep to kick only six more for the remainder of the game.
Even last week against the injury riddled Giants the Roos put up a lethargic first half before pulling away to an easy 75-point win. Intensity is the key to the Kangaroos, especially in the midfield where at times players go missing for long periods.
The Bulldogs also have been inconsistent but more understandable with a younger team. When they are up and running the Bulldogs can mix it with the best with their exciting combination of run and flair. Midfielders Luke Dalhaus and Tom Liberartore have been outstanding this season along with the emergence of Jackson Macrae but at times there’s been too little support.
The Bulldogs also lack good talls in the forward line that can take marks, and it’s little surprise that they rank 16th in marks inside 50. They bring back forward Jarrod Grant this week to help them in this area and give support to youngster Jake Stringer who has kicked bags of five and four goals in the last three weeks.
The Dogs have also missed inside midfielder Mitchell Wallis the past couple of weeks and is out injured for the rest of the season. His attack on the ball and his ability to tag the most dangerous opponent have taken the edge off the midfield and too many times they have failed to apply enough pressure.
Prediction:
The Kangaroos have too much to play for to let this one slip, and with their most talented midfielder returning in Daniel Wells, along with their most prolific this season in Levi Greenwood, the Roos will be looking to extend their recent good run against the Bulldogs. The Roos have won four of their last five against the Dogs including a 29-point win in round two this season.
But as the Lions and the Suns have showed this season a fast midfield can trouble the one paced Roos midfield, Wells returning will help but the Roos will need to ensure the good Roos turn up for this one.
North by 19 points
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