Head to head: Fremantle four wins, North Melbourne 11 wins

Last time: North Melbourne 12.10 (82) d Fremantle 11.12(78), round 15, 2007 at Subiaco

FORM

North Melbourne: LWWLL

Fremantle: LLLLL

SUMMARY

Even though North Melbourne has lost its past two games, it is far from out of form. The Kangaroos have not won since defeating the Western Bulldogs in round nine but are still one of the most dangerous sides going around.

Brent Harvey is in red-hot form and Fremantle is one of the teams he could cut up in the space of minutes. Nathan Thompson and Corey Jones are both chances to return from injury, which would boost a forward line that coped pretty well in their absence.

For Fremantle, again, there are few positive signs to come from last weekend. Coach Mark Harvey believes the football world should see his team as dangerous but until they can string four quarters of consistent football together this won't be the case.

Rhys Palmer has all but sewn up the NAB Rising Star and Mitchell Johnson is starting to attack from the back half but there is little more for Fremantle fans to hang their hat on.

Matthew Pavlich and Chris Tarrant have shown signs they can work together in attack, but they need better supply from the middle.

KEY MATCH-UPS

Josh Carr v Brent Harvey

Carr might not have the pace of Harvey. Few do. But he has the close-checking nastiness that is needed for a tagger to nullify a champion.

Harvey shook off one of his bogey men last week in Cameron Ling and will be eager to keep his form going. Carr brings genuine competitiveness to the Fremantle midfield and needs to do the job if his side is to win.

Hamish McIntosh v Aaron Sandilands

McIntosh hasn’t quite reached the lofty heights he did last year but is still doing his bit in the middle. Swapping with David Hale in the middle, McIntosh gives good supply to the North Melbourne on-ballers but can look a bit lost when he is resting in the forward line.

Sandilands will always win the majority of ruck contests simply because he is bigger than every opponent. It is simply a question of Fremantle’s little men getting first hands to the ball.

Scott Thompson v Matthew Pavlich

Despite Cameron Mooney booting seven goals on him last week, Scott Thompson showed that he could be a genuine tall defender for North Melbourne. Thompson, like all defenders will have the occasional bad day but there is no bigger chance to bounce back than this week against Pavlich. The Freo skipper hasn’t had his best year so far but he is still getting the job done as best he can.

Mark Harvey will be looking to Pavlich to spur his team on and this week could be the week he gets them over the line.

WILDCARDS

North Melbourne  –  Matt Campbell

Campbell booted three goals from just five kicks against Geelong last week and is fast proving himself to be the sort of burst player who can get under a coach’s guard. Goalsneaks are unpredictable at the best of times, but Campbell has shown that he can find a goal from very limited opportunity. His input could be the difference.

Fremantle – Chris Tarrant

The former Magpie’s form over the past few weeks has been okay and he could be on the way back to his best. The North Melbourne defence is getting better every week but Tarrant might be able to sneak up on them.

QUESTION MARKS

Mark Harvey seemed convinced last week when he said Fremantle was a dangerous proposition. But was he saying this as a way of promoting his team or does he genuinely believe it?

In his defence, Fremantle has shown it can match it with the best teams over the past six weeks, so who knows what it is capable of if things can click.

A glance at the win-loss record would suggest North Melbourne has hit some ordinary form over the past two weeks but is this truly the case or has it just had the misfortune of facing a couple of quality teams in top form? We suspect it is the latter and North Melbourne is one of the genuine danger sides of the league.

BLUFFER'S GUIDE

For some reason North Melbourne will never be rated as one of the elite teams, but on its day it can take it up to the best. Fremantle is not the best of the best. The Fremantle side is better than its record suggests, but that said they haven’t been able to close out a game since the derby match against West Coast.

The Kangaroos are chasing a hotly-contested finals spot and there is no way they will let a game like this slip away.

PREDICTION:

North Melbourne by 28 points

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.