WHERE AND WHEN: Etihad Stadium, Friday 29 July, 7.40pm
HEAD TO HEAD: North Melbourne 53 wins, Carlton 94 wins, no draws
LAST TIME: North Melbourne 14.13 (97) d Carlton 10.8 (68), round 12, 2010 at Etihad Stadium
TV, RADIO AND BETTING: Click here for broadcast guide and odds
A full replay will be available on afl.com.au 12 hours after the completion of the match
FORM: North Melbourne: WLLWW Carlton: LWLLW
SUMMARY
After last week's lop-sided affair between St Kilda and Adelaide had many Friday night footy viewers heading for an early kip, this week's match-up promises a lot more excitement.
Carlton, just two points clear of West Coast and having played an extra game, needs a win to hold onto its coveted top-four spot. North Melbourne, knee deep in a tight tussle with several other teams for a place in the finals, simply cannot afford to lose.
Love them or hate them, what more watchable team is there at the moment than the Blues? Saturday night's win over Essendon produced almost a season's worth of highlights in one game. Eddie Betts' eight goals, including a freakish dodging, weaving goal of the year contender, Chris Judd's sublime performance, and Andrew Walker's sky-scraping hanger had Blues fans in raptures.
They'll face a North team that's going nicely and desperate to put on a show in its only Friday night footy slot of the season. (North Melbourne invented Friday night footy, remember?) Wins over the Western Bulldogs and Brisbane Lions in the past fortnight have the Roos only half a game behind eighth-placed St Kilda.
They boast one of the league's in-form ruckmen in Todd Goldstein, a contested marking machine in Drew Petrie, and a hardworking engine room featuring Andrew Swallow, Jack Ziebell and Ryan Bastinac. Throw in the class of Daniel Wells and inspirational skipper Brent Harvey, and it's a combination that's sure to make Carlton work hard to maintain its buffer over the Eagles.
QUESTION MARKS
Can the Kangaroos break their 'good team' hoodoo? Under Brad Scott, North has consistently knocked over teams around or below their mid-table ladder positioning. Against top teams, however, they've struggled big time. Their last crack at a top four side resulted in a humiliating 117-point loss to Collingwood.
"We're not where we need to be, but the great thing is… we've got opportunities to show that performance is not reflective of where we're at," Scott said after the Magpies thrashing.
Here's the first of those chances.
Is Marc Murphy a Brownlow chance? His skipper Judd has been talked up as a near-certainty to claim his third 'Charlie' but Murphy leads the highly-valued AFL Coaches' Association award by nine votes. Scarily for Carlton's opponents, coach Brett Ratten thinks Murphy's form might be making Judd even better.
"Every time Chris goes to a game, he's a really proud man and wants to perform at his optimum every week, but I think when you've got a challenger within, that actually drives him a little bit more," Ratten said on Saturday night.
PREDICTION
Carlton by 17 points
TOYOTA AFL DREAM TEAM WATCH
There are plenty of high-scoring Dream Team stars on both of these teams, but if you're aiming to mount a serious tilt when the finals kick off in round 21, avoid bringing Blues and Roos into your side from here on in. Both teams have byes during the Dream Team finals - North Melbourne in week one, Carlton in week three (preliminary finals) - and a Judd, Goldstein or Murphy sitting unused on your bench could cost you big-time if things get tight.
Follow the game live in the AFL Match Centre on afl.com.au and join the conversation on Twitter using #aflnorthblues.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
