That’s the view of Swans coach Paul Roos, whose side will travel to Melbourne for the first time this season in search of their third straight victory.
While Nick Malceski said earlier in the week that the players put little stock in practice match form, Roos said he had gleaned valuable information about North Melbourne from their NAB Challenge clash in Narrandera.
“It’s always good to play a team before the season starts when they’ve got a new coach because you’re never really sure what to expect,” he said on Thursday.
“They’ve got a young team… a bit like Richmond last week, it’s a little bit hard to get a gauge on those sort of teams. They’re a lot more unpredictable.”
Despite North’s relative youth, Roos said their midfield wouldn’t be easily brushed aside if the match came down to a test of strength.
“I think [Scott] is demanding that contested footy and they’ve got some big bodies, even among their younger guys.
“[Jack] Ziebell’s a big kid, [Liam] Anthony’s a big kid, [Ryan] Bastinac’s not tall but he’s quite a solid player, [Andrew] Swallow’s a real hard in-and-under player.
“That style of footy that we’ve tried to embrace here at the football club, he’s certainly big on that and that’s shown in the first three games of the season. That’s one area we’ll have to be really good at.”
Roos said the Swans were likely to head into the clash unchanged after Jarred Moore (ankle) was cleared to train with the main group on Thursday afternoon.
The Swans’ strong form and short injury list means the selectors are spoilt for choice - a far cry from the slim pickings on offer at times in 2009.
Roos acknowledged that posed a challenge for the likes of established senior players Paul Bevan and Ted Richards, who have found themselves out of the team in recent weeks.
Nick Smith, Mike Pyke, Pat Veszpremi and Gary Rohan are among the other senior hopefuls playing well for the Swans reserves.
“You do have to make sure they feel valued and that they’re a chance, but equally they’re smart. They know the team’s playing well and they know that everyone’s in pretty good form,” he said.
“They’ve just got to maintain some faith in their own form. The last thing they need is to play a bad game and all of a sudden the seniors have a bad day and they’re out of contention,” he said.
