BRAD Scott says predictions of a North Melbourne-Western Bulldogs shootout on Friday night could come unstuck, with the high-scoring Roos facing a huge challenge to penetrate the Dogs' "exceptional defensive unit".
North is ranked No.1 for scoring after five rounds, averaging 122.2 points a game in its 5-0 start to the season.
The second-placed Bulldogs have also made an impressive start to the season, but their competition-high percentage of 173.5 has been built on stingy defence rather than all-out attack.
Luke Beveridge's men have averaged 24 points fewer a game than North so far this year, but have conceded a League-low 56.6 points a game, 42 points fewer on average than the Roos.
Scott told reporters on Wednesday that while a shootout under Etihad Stadium's closed roof was a possibility on Friday night, North was prepared for a contested scrap.
"I think if you really dig a little deeper into the Bulldogs they're an exceptional defensive unit. I think they average about 14 goals (a game) this year, so it's not so much that they've been blowing teams out of the water offensively," Scott said.
"They certainly have been dominating the contest and then they defend really well as well.
"And if you do those do things really well you tend to get the ball back, so they're an offensive threat as well."
Asked what made the Bulldogs such a good defensive team, Scott said they were employing a fairly simple formula.
"Pretty simply, they win the ball in the contest and they retain it really well, so that adds up to really high time in possession and they give their forwards an opportunity," Scott said.
"I think it was 71 inside 50s last week (against the Brisbane Lions), so if you can't compete in the contest then it's going to be hard to challenge them elsewhere."
The Bulldogs are ranked No.1 in contested possession this season and smashed North in that area (140-124) in their most recent encounter, in round 22 last year, on their way to a 23-point win.
In-form Jack Ziebell trains for North Melbourne on Wednesday morning. Picture: Getty Images
Scott is confident his team can bounce back from that loss.
"While the Bulldogs are a clear No.1 in contested possession, we're a clear No.2, so I think that (our) effort in the contest has been really good," Scott said.
"We've been able to transition and move the ball and score pretty well, so I think those parts of the game have been going pretty well for us.
"Defensively we've also tightened up some areas even though the games we've played have been quite unique in a lot of ways."
Scott said forward Mason Wood was likely to come back into North's team against the Bulldogs after he was a late withdrawal from last Saturday's win over Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium.
The Roos coach said the decision to replace Wood with small forward Kayne Turner had been "line-ball", one principally made because of the slippery conditions on the Gold Coast.
