Richmond v North Melbourne
Saturday, August 7 - 4.35pm AEST
MCG
For the first time since 2019, North Melbourne will be playing at the home of football, the MCG.
Taking on a Richmond side still targeting a finals berth, a win for the Kangaroos could all but end Richmond’s hopes of playing on into September.
North posted a strong defensive showing against Geelong in Round 20, but unfortunately could not hit the scoreboard as consistently as it would have liked, eventually going down by 20 points.
Nick Larkey continued his fine form in front of goal, kicking two majors for the day to take his season tally to 36, while Aaron Hall finished with a game-high 36 disposals from the backline.
Richmond enters the clash off of a tight loss to Fremantle, falling to the Dockers by just four points at Optus Stadium.
Trent Cotchin and Dion Prestia both worked hard in the losing effort, registering over 30 disposals for the clash.
North looks set to be buoyed by the returns of Cam Zurhaar, Tarryn Thomas and Aiden Bonar from injury, while Tom Campbell also comes into the side.
Richmond has swung the axe after their loss and made five changes, with Nick Vlastuin, Kamdyn McIntosh, Hugo Ralphsmith and Callum Coleman-Jones coming into the side, alongside the debuting Maurice Rioli Junior.
Last time we met
Round 7, 2020
The last clash of these two sides was a day to forget for North, with inaccuracy in front of goal resulting in a 55-point victory for Richmond.
North struggled to move the ball forward throughout the game and only registered one inside 50 in a scoreless first quarter.
The Kangaroos did win the clearance battle on the day, but Richmond’s ability to find uncontested football proved a major difference-maker.
Trent Dumont was amongst the best for North, finishing with 25 disposals and a goal, while Todd Goldstein put in a strong, all-round performance, finishing with 14 disposals, 26 hitouts and a game-high 6 clearances.
Jake Aarts and Mabior Chol both kicked 2 goals for Richmond, while Jack Graham finished with a game-high 9 tackles.
The matchup
Jy Simpkin v Trent Cotchin
The midfield battle in this clash could well be defined by the coming together of two leaders. Cotchin, a three-time premiership captain and Brownlow Medallist, and Simpkin, North’s 23-year-old deputy skipper.
With no Ben Cunnington in the side, Simpkin will once again be North’s leader at the coalface, with the young star continuing to develop both his on-field and off-field leadership ability.
Currently ranking sixth in the AFL for total centre clearances in 2021 with 55 for the season, Simpkin is once again putting together a career-best campaign.
Now well into his fifth season at AFL level, he continues to improve, as his averages for most major midfield metrics climb and climb.
Averaging 26.8 disposals, 3.8 tackles and 5.3 clearances in 2021, he’s well and truly climbing into the top echelon of midfielders in the AFL.
It’s been something of an injury interrupted 2021 for Trent Cotchin, with the Tigers’ skipper appearing in 15 games this season, but after returning to the side in Round 11, he hasn’t missed a trick.
While he’s not been a prolific ball winner in recent times, averaging less than 20 disposals a game in every season since 2018, Cotchin’s game breaking ability with ball in hand makes him a dangerous prospect to face.
His 10-tackle performance against Adelaide in Round 11 and 32 disposal effort last week have offered reminders of what he’s capable of when he’s in form, and North will have to work to curb his influence on the contest.
The key men
Nick Larkey and Jack Riewoldt
Nick Larkey and Jack Riewoldt aren’t only at the opposite ends of their careers, but they’ll be looking to win the game off their own boot at opposite ends of the ground this weekend.
After a slightly sluggish start to the 2021 season, the last four weeks Larkey has put together have been the most consistent of his career, kicking 15 goals in that time frame.
His golden run of form has seen him explode up to 12th place in the Coleman Medal race, seeing him leapfrog the likes of Joe Daniher, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Tom Lynch.
The pick of his recent performances is undoubtedly his 20 disposal, 7 goal demolishing of Carlton in Round 19, and even though he only had 5 disposals against Geelong last week, he finished with 2 goals.
Larkey has the ability to be an effective influence regardless of whether he’s finding the football, and Richmond will have to stop him from getting the ball at any point inside 50, otherwise his exceptional set shot could prove lethal.
Despite ticking over 300 games and 700 goals in recent weeks, Riewoldt just keeps on keeping on.
Sitting fourth in the Coleman Medal race after 20 rounds, his ability to almost unfailingly impact the scoreboard every week is a dangerous prospect for any defence.
Having been kept goalless just once in 2021, his 6 goals in Richmond’s Round 18 victory over the high-flying Brisbane reminded everyone of the danger he still possesses week in, week out.
Having kicked just 3 goals in the 2 games since the Brisbane game though, North will be hoping to keep this Tiger caged, much like he has been in recent weeks.
The stat
Jaidyn Stephenson has been a man on fire for North in 2021, and despite missing a chunk of the season due to a wrist injury, he’s become a key cog in North’s forward half.
There are few sights more brilliant than a long-sleeved football jumper, and over the course of his career, Stephenson has proved to be partial to a long sleeve.
In his 16 appearances this season, he’s work long sleeves on five occasions for a full game, rounds 5, 13, 14, 17 and 19, while switching between long sleeves and no sleeves halfway through Round 15.
Arguably his two best performances of 2021 have come when he’s channelled his inner ‘Sleevo’ and worn the long sleeves, collecting 38 disposals and 4 clearances against West Coast in Round 17, and 24 disposals and 3 goals in Round 19 against Carlton.
Taking out the Round 15 clash, Stephenson averages 21.2 disposals and 7.6 marks per game in long sleeves, as opposed to averages of 19.2 and 5.1 when going without.
Outside of marks and disposals though, Stephenson’s statistics remain relatively constant, regardless of whether he’s wearing long sleeves or not.
In long sleeves he averages 1.6 goals, 2.2 tackles and 1.5 clearances per game, compared to averages of 1.6, 2.4 and 1.6 without.
With Saturday’s weather set to be a maximum of 15 degrees with a chance of light showers, we could well see ‘Sleevo’ once again emerge at the MCG.
Whether he’s got long sleeves on or not though, Stephenson could well prove to be the difference in this clash.
