It will be the third-straight week the fifth-placed Magpies remain unchanged, with the club having recorded two impressive victories over fellow top-eight sides Sydney and Adelaide.
Ruckman and vice-captain Josh Fraser is still sidelined despite having played in the VFL last week, and will be given another week to fully recover from a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee. The Collingwood VFL team does not play this weekend.
Youngsters Danny Stanley, Sharrod Wellingham and Alan Toovey are the three emergencies.
The Kangaroos, who sit ninth with seven wins and are six premiership points behind the Magpies, are coming off a narrow victory over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. They have dropped key forward Nathan Thompson and recalled Shannon Grant and Corey Jones.
2008 AFL Premiership Season – Round 16
North Melbourne v Collingwood
Friday 18 July 2008
Telstra Dome, 7:40pm
North Melbourne
B: Scott McMahon, Michael Firrito, Josh Gibson
HB: Daniel Pratt, Shannon Watt, Leigh Harding
C: Daniel Wells, Gavin Urquhart, Brent Harvey
HF: Lindsay Thomas, David Hale, Ben Ross
F: Matt Campbell, Drew Petrie, Lachlan Hansen
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Adam Simpson, Daniel Harris
Int: Brady Rawlings, Sam Power, Shannon Grant, Corey Jones
Emg: Blake Grima, Nathan Thompson, Levi Greenwood
In: Shannon Grant, Corey Jones
Out: Nathan Thompson, Blake Grima
Collingwood
B: Heath Shaw, Shane Wakelin, Tarkyn Lockyer
HB: Martin Clarke, Nick Maxwell, Heritier O’Brien
C: Ben Johnson, Scott Burns, Rhyce Shaw
HF: Scott Pendlebury, Travis Cloke, Chris Bryan
F: Alan Didak, Nathan Brown, Paul Medhurst
Foll: Cameron Wood, Dane Swan, Dale Thomas
Int: Shane O’Bree, Tyson Goldsack, Leon Davis, John Anthony
Emg: Danny Stanley, Sharrod Wellingham, Alan Toovey
No change
