Head to head: North Melbourne 17 wins, West Coast 19 wins, no draws
Last time: West Coast 17.8 (110) d North Melbourne 10.12 (72), round 20, 2009 at Subiaco Oval
MISSING IN ACTION
North Melbourne
Levi Greenwood (toe) - 1 week
Ed Lower (leg) - 2 weeks
Alan Obst (quad) - 2 weeks
Drew Petrie (foot) - 5 weeks
West Coast
Sam Butler (facial fracture) - 3-4 weeks
Tim Houlihan (foot) - 7 weeks
Mark LeCras (hamstring) - test
Mark Nicoski (shoulder) - 2-3 weeks
Brad Sheppard (cheek) - 2-3 weeks
Koby Stevens (knee) - test
FORM
North Melbourne: LL
West Coast: LL
SUMMARY
Both North Melbourne and West Coast enter Saturday's clash winless, but only one of the two sides looked like pinching four points last week. For all intents and purposes, the Eagles had Port beaten in round two. Hit-outs, clearances and contested possessions were all in their favour, and they went inside 50 a whopping 60 times to Port's 37. Woeful disposal and a subsequent total of three marks inside 50 saw them lose by three points and forward delivery will have to improve against the Roos.
North faced sterner opposition in St Kilda but fell harder. Scoreless at quarter time, Brad Scott's men eventually lost by 104 points. There will be plenty of interest in how the players and their coach respond this week.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Brent Harvey concedes his five-possession effort against St Kilda last week was the worst of his 281-game career, but expect the champion to bounce back. Scott was criticised for not changing Harvey's role mid-game, and it will be interesting to see if opposite number John Worsfold uses Pat McGinnity in an aggressive run-with role on the Kangaroos playmaker.
West Coast players believe Dean Cox operating at 80 per cent fitness is still a valuable weapon, but after two rounds of football is Dean Cox really 80 per cent fit? The champion ruckman has topped his side for hit-outs in the first two rounds, but he is struggling around the ground and knows he needs to lift.
QUESTION MARKS
Can West Coast capitalise on its impressive centre-square numbers when going inside 50? Skills will be under the microscope after last week's wasteful effort.
Can Daniel Wells, Liam Anthony and Andrew Swallow get on top of West Coast's midfield and support their skipper? Harvey was far from the only under-performing Roo last week.
WHO WILL WIN AND WHY
Eagles sharpshooter Mark LeCras will make a huge difference if, as is expected, he returns from hamstring soreness. A bruised North will test them, but if the Eagles midfielders can get the ball to Josh Kennedy, Mitch Brown and LeCras with improved efficiency, West Coast's opening win of the season should follow.
PREDICTION
West Coast by 10 points
Follow Murray Belkin's inside view of North Melbourne v West Coast at #aflkangaseagles on Twitter.com from 2.10pm Saturday or @AFL_MuzzBelkin#aflkangaseagles
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
