North Melbourne's VFLW program has made three changes for its clash with Williamstown on Saturday, with star midfielder Ella Maurer set to miss the game due to illness.

Maurer has been one of the Kangaroos' top performers this season and has taken her game to a new level since her stunning performance in the Round 8 victory against Darebin.

Forward/ruck Taylor Moss comes into the side off the back of a strong three-goal haul for local side West Brunswick. She plays her first game since kicking a crucial goal in the Darebin victory.

Lisa Loughnane and Ciara Fitzgerald also come back into the side at the expense of Georgia Alomes and Laura Wright.

Britt Gibson will be hoping to continue on from her performance against Geelong. After playing forward for the early part of the contest, Gibson was sent into the backline to help stem the flow of goals. Once she was moved back, the opposition kicked just one major in almost three quarters of football.

The wing rotation of Jess Mourney, Amy Smith and Ellie Macdonald will also be hoping to continue their strong form in the wide areas of the ground, while Perri King will play her second game since returning from an ankle injury.

Pushing for finals

It's been a rollercoaster season for the Roos so far. A change in coach, high player turnover and a tough run of fixtures saw them manage just one win in their first seven games, against this weekend's opponents Williamstown in Round 5.

Three consecutive victories against Darebin, Port Melbourne and Carlton launched North back into finals contention, only for last week's loss to Geelong to plunge them into a three-way race for the last spot in the top six.

With three games to go, Collingwood, Darebin and North Melbourne are now all competing for that spot, and the Kangaroos are the lowest-placed of the three sides.

With the Western Bulldogs and Southern Saints lying in wait in the Roos' last two home-and-away rounds, a big win against Williamstown this weekend will go a long way towards piling pressure on the Magpies and Falcons.

Facing up to the past

Williamstown are familiar opponents for North Melbourne, not least because several Kangaroos are former Seagulls.

Liz McGrath headlines the former Seagulls now plying their trade at Arden Street. Since arriving at the club this season she has established herself as one of the best rucks in the competition, underlining the point by dominating Carlton's Jorja Borg two weeks ago.

Ash Melnikas is another key Kangaroo taking on her former side this weekend. The versatile midfielder/defender impressed with a game-high seven tackles against Williamstown in Round 5, while Lisa Loughnane comes into the team with a point to prove at her former home ground.

>> The game will be streamed live on vflw.tv

Saturday, May 14

Williamstown v North Melbourne at Williamstown Oval, 2:00pm AEST

B: 17. J Jones, 1. M Eastman
HB: 23. A Scott, 3. H Ibrahim, 24. E Macdonald
C: 2. J Mourney, 18. A Melnikas, 35. A Smith
HF: 26. T Craven, 21. E Paterno, 44. B Gibson
F: 16. G Nicholas, 15. S Skinner
R: 22. E McGrath, 28. P King, 12. R Hicks

I/C: 4. A Rhodes, 10. C Fitzgerald, 33. T Bradley, 25. L Loughnane, 29. T Moss
Emg: 13. K Murrihy, 32. A Vine, 14. M Klaumanns-Moller, 19. L Wrigh

Ins: 29. T Moss, 10. C Fitzgerald, 25. L Loughnane
Outs: 39. G Alomes, 42. E Maurer, 19. L Wright

The VFLW Kangaroos overcame Williamstown in a nail-biting classic on the weekend, defeating the Seagulls by two-points in a high-scoring, see-sawing encounter.

A strong end-to-end wind ensured the momentum shifted every quarter, however a Sarah Skinner goal against the breeze in the final term secured the result for North Melbourne.

The Kangaroos had to win the game to ensure they remained in the hunt for finals, and they have now won four of their last five contests as they've well and truly turned their back on their struggles in the first half of the campaign.

VFLW senior coach Steph Binder says she's proud of the resilience her side showed to emerge with the win.

"It was an absolute ripper contest. To hold on and get the win was unreal, especially because of the amount of passion there was in the game," Binder told North Media.

"It was a tale of the first and third quarters against the second and the fourth. We had the wind in the first and third so we were very attacking, then in the second and fourth we had to be much more defensively minded.

"There was a fair bit of heat in the battle and to our girls credit they played with a lot of pride. The girls just love each other and love playing for each other and they've got that really strong connection.

"They wanted to do everything in their power to get the win for our milestone players in 'Scotty' (Annabel Scott) and Reni (Hicks) who were playing their 50th games. There was a lot to play for."

Across this season the Kangaroos have developed a penchant for playing fast-moving, high energy football that utilises quick ball movement to crack open opposition defences.

However such were the conditions at Downer Oval that they quickly had to resort to a different plan, one that worked effectively due to the strong marking of those playing forward of the ball.

"From the start we spoke a lot about the wind and how that would affect our style but we still backed the girls to take the game on and try to use the width. When it became apparent that the shortness of the ground was making things a lot harder and we had to go more direct," Binder said.

"We haven't been exposed to that kind of wind before. It's really good to know that we can find ways to win in the face of adversity, especially after coming from behind in the last quarter as well, so to find that resilience was huge for us. 

"When we could we still wanted to switch the footy and open the ground up that's more along the lines of our brand but when it came to it we just had to get the job done. It was a credit to the girls to be able to get the win."

After stemming the flow of a firing Geelong forward line two weeks ago, Britt Gibson was tasked with playing a swinging role across the four quarters and was placed at whichever end the breeze was flowing too.

When up forward she provided a lethal marking target to finish with three goals. When down back her quality reading of the play and power in the contest helped prevent a number of dangerous Williamstown attacks.

"'Gibbo' was absolutely spectacular for us. When we were kicking with the wind we had her up forward and when we were against it we threw her back. Within the first quarter she was getting a bit of achilles pain but to her credit she played the game out to the best of her ability," Binder said.

"She just went and did the best thing for the team. She only played a half in the forward line but was still able to kick three goals and probably saved as many in the backline though. It's really nice to watch her do her thing."

The trio of Liz McGrath, Lisa Loughnane and Ash Melnikas all entered the game with a point to prove against their old side, and all three played crucial roles in pulling the side over the line.

McGrath was once again amongst the best players on the field and finished with 18 disposals, 29 hitouts and nine clearances. Loughnane and Melnikas both played strong defensive roles to keep their side in the game across the contest.

"Liz was arguably the best on ground, she led our disposals and dominated in the hitouts. I always say she's the first one to get those ground balls, lay those tackles and do those one per centers," Binder said 

"Ash and Lisa down back were really strong and helped set the ball movement up from deep in defence. When Williamstown were going with the wind they had a really big job to do there and I couldn't be prouder of the girls."

North continues its campaign against the Western Bulldogs at Arden Street this Saturday before finishing their home and away campaign against Southern Saints.

WILLIAMSTOWN           1.0     5.1     5.2     7.5     (47)
NORTH MELBOURNE     2.4     3.4     6.7     7.7     (49)

AFLW-listed

Tess Craven: 17 disposals, one goal, three tackles, two clearances
Britt Gibson: 16 disposals, three goals, six marks
Perri King: Three disposals, two tackles
Amy Smith: Four disposals, five tackles

Best of VFLW-listed

Molly Eastman: 15 disposals, five marks, three tackles
Reni Hicks: 16 disposals, six tackles, three clearances
Liz McGrath: 18 disposals, 29 hitouts, nine clearances
Annabel Scott: 18 disposals, five tackles, ten clearances
Sarah Skinner: Nine disposals, two goals