NTH vs MEL Round 3

[Barra13]

Melbourne ends its week of humiliation on Sunday with a trip across Bass Strait for a game against a team it has not beaten since Methuselah played in the Under 9s.

To make things worse, North Melbourne is riding high after two solid wins, carrying few injuries and playing at its home away from home. The Kangaroos are chock full of confidence but on top of that are unlikely to treat an opposition with the same disrespect that the Demons showed Essendon in their encounter last Saturday (and for that matter, when they met last year).

Melbourne was caught napping against Essendon when its expected midfield dominance failed to eventuate despite the fact that big Max Gawn dominated the ruck duels. Despite this, the Bombers won the ball out of the clearances and were also given far too much latitude on the outside by an undisciplined unit. I can only suppose that the Demons believed their own publicity after earning kudos from a virtually unblemished pre season and a come from behind win in the season opener against the Giants - achieved through some discipline on the ground including a willingness by all and sundry to go down and get their hands dirty.

Coach Paul Roos has a lot of thinking to do with regard to how he can get his charges back into the headspace they occupied up until the Bomber debacle. It won't be easy if you consider the game starts at the first bounce and the opposition midfield will be a much tougher proposition than the one that beat it comprehensively last week.

And that is where the challenge begins and it does so on the shoulders of the tallest man in the team. When the teams met last year Todd Goldstein gave big Max Gawn a football less amassing 50 hit outs and nearly doubling him in the possession count. The differential was enormous and it reflected in the overall dominance of the Kangaroo midfield. If Gawn has pretensions to becoming a top of the range exponent of the art of ruck work then he needs to take some big scalps and none could be bigger than the man he faces this week.

In order for the team to have a chance of winning, the midfield will have to take the ball away more often from the stoppages and when they do, they must hit targets.

The task is not beyond them but much will depend on whether the team is shell shocked, whether it has the desire to turn things around and to get its hands dirty.

For this assignment, North in Hobart will be a tough proposition and I'm therefore tipping them to win by 25 points.

THE GAME: North Melbourne v Melbourne on Sunday 10 August, 2016 at Blundstone Arena at 1.10pm

HEAD TO HEAD:

Overall North Melbourne 78 wins Melbourne 83 wins 1 draw

At Blundstone Arena North Melbourne 0 wins Melbourne 0 wins

Last five times North Melbourne 5 wins Melbourne 0 wins

The Coaches Scott 3 wins Roos 0 wins

MEDIA

TV - Fox Footy 1pm

RADIO - SEN, ABC

THE BETTING

North Melbourne to win $1.30 Melbourne to win $3.50

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

North Melbourne 19.13.127 defeated Melbourne 14.8.92 at the MCG in Round 2015.

North led by seven goals to two at the first break in a game that threatened to be a complete blowout but the Demons made a spirited comeback and by close to three quarter time threatened to snatch the lead. The Kangaroos steadied with a late goal to take a 10-point lead into the final break and ran out comfortable winners in the end.

THE TEAMS

North Melbourne
Backs: M.Firrito R.Tarrant S.Wright
Half Backs: S.Atley S.Thompson L.McDonald
Centreline: N.Dal Santo D.Wells B.Jacobs
Half Forwards: J.Ziebell J.Waite B.Harvey
Forwards: S.Higgins D.Petrie L.Thomas
Followers: T.Goldstein B.Cunnington A.Swallow
Interchange From: L.Hansen T.Dumont A.Mullett T.Garner J.Macmillan S.Gibson B.Brown

In: S.Thompson, A.Mullett, T.Dumont

Melbourne
Backs: N.Jetta, T.McDonald, T.Bugg
Half Backs: M.Jones, H.Lumumba, C.Salem
Centreline: B.Vince, D.Tyson, J.Harmes
Half Forwards: J.Watts, A.Vandenberg, B.Kennedy
Forwards: D.Kent, J.Hogan, J.Garlett
Followers: M.Gawn, N.Jones, J.Viney
Interchange From: C.Oliver, L.Dunn, B.Stretch, S.Frost, C.Pedersen, J.Grimes, J.Wagner

In: L.Dunn, B.Stretch, S.Frost, J.Grimes, J.Wagner
Out: C.Garland, A.Brayshaw

[Millsy999]

Disappointing result in the end, but at least the Dees can hold their heads up high. They really pushed North in a game where everyone expected them to get steamrolled. Gawn says he wants to be the best ruckman in the league, and today I reckon he had Goldstein beat as far as ruck duals went. The turning point for me was when Watts elected to short pass to Hogan instead of having a kick at goal and screwed it up. Resulted in a turnover, a North goal and a momentum swing. Watts has been very good in the forward line this year, and just needs to back himself in. Melbourne have a pretty young midfield/forward unit, but today I think it showed that once they fine tune things and get a bit more experience, they can be a very good team. At least I hope so after years of sufferance as a Melbourne supporter!

[Purple 77]

Was at the game... and golly, it was insane!

I was furious at the first quarter. To dish that up after losing to Essendon last week made me sick.

But from quarter time onwards... I HAD SO MUCH FUN!

Just went on to check Demonland, and this made me lol

[Purple 77]

Also, Lynden is SO vital to us.

So vital.

It was an absolute pleasure to see Tom McDonald get SO little of the ball. And I mean that. He played within his limitations and had a good game because of it.

It's really strange... I actually feel kinda positive after that loss  ???

[elephants]

Considering North will probably finish top 4, I'd say you can be extremely happy with that effort down in Tas! Still makes you wonder wtf was going in last week though haha