North Melbourne are gutsy but not in Eagles' league

hard to limit the free kicks over in WA. west coast are the champion booers of the comp. very interested to see how it is umpired in the first few minutes of the match. lets hope duckers (on both sides) are not rewarded. once the first free is paid to a ducker, it encourages other players to do it. still, i would think the home crowd / umpire coercing/pressure is worth about 3 goals to them. matt priddis could kick one 10 rows back on the full and the umps would still be booed for paying on the full. still, credit to west coast, they have built this environment themselves and proven good enough to finish top 2 and thus deserve this advantage.

North were hard at it on the weekend. I was impressed with the toughness, the clean contested marking and well executed clearances. At this level there's always a chance that a favorite will have an off night and if the Roos play with commitment the Eagles could blow what looks like the easiest run to the GF. But North will have to settle better and earlier than they did in Sydney. In the first quarter the Swans crowd noisily enjoyed a number of Kangaroo's clangers. Even though they were well ahead on clearances and contested possessions their disposal efficiency in the first quarter was something like 61% with the Swans at 73%. It's the only reason the Swans were level pegging at the first break . The Roos were kicking out on the full and turning the ball over. It looked more like they were over-pumped than pressured and they did settle. But if they make those early mistakes against The Eagles it will be a disaster. With Tipppet in the ruck and Goodes on the ball in midfield the Swans had no options up forward to profit from turnovers. But West Coast, as we saw against Hawthorn, are ruthless at exploiting mistakes and getting the ball quickly into Josh Kennedy and company. If that happens it will be over quickly.

Also North can try and use 2 taggers, but they most remember that they will need to find somebody who can match up on Mark LeCras and say Elliot Yeo. While it is good to have a tagger, North will need to focus on a say a plan B if tagging fails by trying to win the ball instead. LeCras can go into the midfield and has shown how damaging he can be. Jack Darling is a hard runner who can also play in the midfield for a short burst if necessary. Remember the other team cannot hurt you if you keep the ball out of their possession

You won't hold both of them goalless this time. Let's assume that you do - LeCras, Cripps, Hill et al will do enough damage for WC to take the points.

You were due a loss also. The difference after each teams loss was significant. WC responded by putting teams to the sword while Freo were up and down and allowed their opposition to stay in touch. Anyway, it all counts for nothing now as there are only 3 more games to play.

#Me The Nic Nat v Goldie battle should be super interesting, Last time in Hobart it was Goldie 47 hit outs (Nth 55) vs Nic Nat 30 / Sinclair 14 (WCE 46). At Subi last year : it was Goldie 22 / Daw 10 (Nth 34) v Cox 25 / Nic Nat 18 (WCE 45). Noting there - 101 HO's this year vs 79 last year. Interesting in the game last year (at Subi) that Kennedy and Darling were held goalless.

As a die hard Swannie it was sad to see Sydney bow out, it would be easy to talk about that what if's, but North could only play who turned up on the day. I did not hold North that highly but they outplayed the Swans and looked like they have a few tricks up their sleeve. I still don't think they can worry WCE but this has been a funny year and maybe no one has told North they have no hope. Good luck to them.

I think it had more to do with missing 3 players of their back 6 (5 if you include Brown and MacKenzie).

I tried using the "hadn't lost for 9 weeks and were due a loss" excuse for Freo when they lost to Richmond ..... didn't work

Unfortunately North can only beat what is put on the park. Didn't stop Richmond and Swans fans talking themselves up before the games and hasn't stopped the "Sour grapes forecasts" after the games.

If the eagles get off to a flyer on Saturday, that will break North's spirit and put the game to sleep. That said, we expect North to throw everything at West Coast but I suspect that if Nic Nat gives his players first use this will be the decisive factor. Breaking the eagles defensive web will be key as well, so North will need to move the ball fast and without turning it over midfield because Adam Simpsons men will burn the Roos off turnovers. If west coast can shut out Waite that will make West coasts life easier. North's tall forward line will come into play if the roos get the ball in fast and exploit the"undersized" defense. Schofield and Mcgovern are their tallest defenders standing at 6"5.

So your tipping the favourite as your upset for this weekend? Nice logic.

Australian Football is a glorious beast - at any given time teams enter a clash with a full range of possible outcomes. The fact that North - if they 'hit the wall' in this game could find themselves on the receiving end of a result similar to what they suffered to Port back in 2007 Prelim (-87) or the Eagles in the 2012 (-96) - means that North fans certainly take nothing for granted. North have to NOT concede first half frees and/or silly 50m penalties - no gimmes to West Coast. On Saturday night the frees kept the Swans in it. The previous Sunday Richmond could thank their accuracy and scoreline (esp to half time) on in some cases sloppy defence and in other cases pretty soft interpretations. At the other end - North need their kicking boots on. Petrie on Saturday night was struggling to hit the side of a barn from 10 metres. The wind at Subiaco could play a major role. I do suggest also to consider the relativity - due to the fixture in judging season 2015 so far. Remember that WCE finished 9th in 2014. North finished 4th after making the prelim. Fixture wise they were in different 'bands'. North were drawn to play 11 matches against the other 7 top 8 finishers. West Coast drawn for 9 against all of the top 8. West Coast finished 2015 with a 5-4 record against the 2014 top 8 sides. Were 3-2 at home (+114 pts) and 2-2 away (-37 pts). North finished 2015 with a 6-5 record against the 2014 top 8 sides. Were 4-3 at home (+28) and 2-2 away (-87 pts). Includes the Rnd 23 'concession' game to Richmond. As it is - the Dogs, Adel and West Coast entered the finals this year and out went Geel, Ess and Port. And I acknowledge that the Eagles played both Adel and the Doggies twice in 2015. The fact that the Eagles get a home game in far away Perth is huge. +590 at home this year and +168 away. North on the other hand only +134 at home and -9 away (had managed to get back +32 prior to the Round 23 41 pt loss to Richmond) North hosting interstaters in Melb/Hobart were 3-2 and +79. Travelling interstate was an issue clearly - running 2-3 with 3 losses -205 but then 2 wins +128 for a balance of -77 (coincidentally the margin in Round 1 thumping by a then white hot Adelaide). It'll be a tough ask for North to take on the Eagles at Fortress Subi. The only losses for the Eagles there this year to Freo and Hawthorn. Remove those losses and the AWM is 70 pts. Clearly North can't afford to let the Eagles skip out early. Although the Hawks in Rnd 19 lost the first qtr by 3 goals and still had to come from behind in the last to win it. #DJ78 Top 4 in 2015 - North : Swans (1-1 for the year), Freo (1-1) and Eagles (1-0) and Haw (0-1) : 3-3 Top 4 in 2015 - WCE : Swans (1-0), Freo (1-1), Haw (1-1) : 3-2 3 weeks of travel isn't quite right. The trip across town to the MCG isn't really regarded as 'travel'. So, Sydney one week, Perth the next. Granted during the regular season North slipped the (with a bye in the middle) week after knocking off the Giants in Sydney when Gold Coast (Ablett first game back 31 disp,3 gls and Dixon 7 gls one of the few games his ankles held up). Main question then - can North be organised going to Perth - they did win there twice in 2014 - and will the Eagles be cherry ripe from the start after the week off?

The Eagles wins at home have hardly been against top competition, Carlton,GWS, Gold Coast, Essendon, Geelong, St Kilda all finished out of the 8. They played Adelaide the week after Walsh died, Buddy pulled out of the Swans line up before the game they have beaten Fremantle, Bulldogs and the recently the Hawks but talking them up as the best West Coast outfit is a bit much. West Coast had a fairly soft draw early which sets you up for a good year when you play the big teams. Easy kills at home have set them up for a big year, They will get every 50/50 free kick this week with the influence of the crowd. They have a good mobile forward line that are dangerous when running back to goal. Priddis is possibly the best inside reader at stoppages in the game and Gaff can hurt you on the outside. Nic Nat to Schuey at centre ruck contests can also result in the ball getting into the forward line quickly. Lecras is dangerous when not having a set shot on goal he almost never misses but misses a lot when it comes down to the mind thinking about the goal, and Kennedy is the best big man in the comp this year. Their defence is solid and Yeo and Hurn can hurt you from defence. McGovern is the biggest find of the year. The only negative I can think of is West Coast still aren't a finals hardened team. Finals are different than regular season matches. They should win but they have everything to lose as the pressure is all on them to win. North Melbournes defence has conceded less than 15 marks inside 50 for the whole finals series and have conceded 15 free kicks that have resulted in 12 goals from opposition. North Melbourne has kicked poorly in both games so far. They will probably win Ruck contests around the ground, they have a good mix of inside and outside players and the tall marking forwards are hard to match up on. If North can limit inside 50 free kicks and kick well it could be a really close contest. I definitely wouldn't say they aren't in the same league making statements like that makes you look pretty stupid if they lose

Would be interesting if both WA teams win this weekend ..... against teams they both lost to in Tassie.

I can't wait to read it

They had not lost a game for approx 9 weeks when they went to Adelaide. They weren't switched on either they were due a loss. That was the popular opinion at the time and also my own. Minor hiccup in an outstanding season.

North are likely to get belted once again. Armchair ride into the GF for the Eagles coming up!