HEAD TO HEAD: North Melbourne 67 wins, Melbourne 83 wins, one draw
LAST TIME: North Melbourne 17.11 (113) d Melbourne 15.13 (103), round 22, 2010, at the MCG
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A full replay will be available on afl.com.au 12 hours after the completion of the match
FORM: North Melbourne: BLLWL Melbourne: LWBLW
SUMMARY
Two weeks ago, the Kangaroos notched their first win for the season against Port Adelaide but last week were unable to follow it up against a much stronger Geelong outfit. The Cats beat the Roos by 66 points, who were without Lachie Hansen owing to a nasty back injury he sustained against the Power.
While Drew Petrie, Daniel Wells, Liam Anthony and Brady Rawlings performed well against the Cats, the fact remains the Roos are starting to lose touch with the top eight with just one win. They're in the bottom four and their skill level has attracted criticism again after it fell below par on the weekend.
The Demons have been up and down this season but their past month has them sitting seventh on the ladder. With a bye in round five splitting two interstate trips, they've beaten the Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast and most recently Adelaide by 96 points, which was an impressive result after they were thumped by West Coast a week earlier.
Brent Moloney remains in good form for the Demons while Nathan Jones and Colin Sylvia were in the best against the Crows and Ricky Petterd joined Sylvia with a contribution of four goals.
However, it was a bad weekend for injuries with Jack Grimes (foot stress fracture) and Jake Spencer (knee) sustaining season-ending complaints.
QUESTION MARKS
After the Geelong game, North coach Brad Scott met with his players for 20 minutes in the away rooms at Skilled Stadium before leaving them to have a frank and open discussion among themselves. Will a few home truths and revelations help motivate the players to rebound this Saturday?
The Roos were narrowly beaten in inside 50s in their loss to the Cats on Saturday. Can they carry on that form and make opportunities count against the Demons?
Although there are eight positions separating these sides on the ladder, they're considered to be similarly placed in development. Will this match reveal if one side has pushed ahead of the other?
PREDICTION
Melbourne by 12 points.
TOYOTA AFL DREAM TEAM WATCH
Now might be a good time to start looking at Daniel Wells. The small forward/midfielder started the season at $342,000 but has dropped to $317,600 in recent weeks. Despite his reduction in value, he was one of the highest scoring Roos in a losing side last week with 102 - and his average is slowly climbing.
If you've got Grimes, you'll take a hit of $33,700 if you trade him out following his season-ending injury. However, you'll make that back on Luke Tapscott, who's price continues to soar despite his modest numbers. He's worth over double what he started the season at with a price tag of $208,200.
Follow the game live in the AFL Match Centre on afl.com.au and join the conversation on Twitter using #aflnorthdees.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
