North Melbourne bounced back from its heavy defeat to Fremantle with a one-point win over West Coast, climbing to its highest win tally since 2019 in the process.

This week, the Roos return to the MCG on Sunday afternoon, where they'll take on Richmond for the second time in 2026.

Round 15, Richmond v North Melbourne
When: Sunday, June 21 at 1.10pm AEST
Where: Melbourne Cricket Ground, VIC
How to watch: Foxtel, Kayo Sports

The opposition

The 2-11 Tigers showed plenty of promise coming out of their Round 13 bye, challenging reigning premiers Brisbane for large parts of their bout in Hobart.

They were ultimately outclassed though, going down by 35 points despite strong shifts from young forward Jasper Alger (four goals) and midfielder Tim Taranto (29 disposals, two goals) who polled six coaches votes.

Promisingly for Richmond, it should regain ruckman Toby Nankervis, while Rhyan Mansell and Kane McAuliffe are also in the frame to return as the club looks to pinch its second win in a four-week stretch.

Running hot

Playing against the club he made a name for himself at, Jack Darling wound back the clock against the Eagles.

The veteran forward was ultra reliable at Optus Stadium in Round 14, clunking three contested marks and booting four first-half goals to make sure the Roos remained in the contest.

He’s now kicked 19 majors from 12 appearances this season and will look to add more on Sunday afternoon.

What the coach has said

North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson post-match v West Coast: "We know we’ve got work to do but our season’s still alive, we’re 6-7. We know that there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us, our last six weeks have been a really tough six weeks, and we’ll cop the criticism and fairly so our performance against Fremantle.

“I don’t think anyone in the competition had us winning too many of those six games when they saw the draw at the start of the year - Geelong at Geelong, Adelaide in Adelaide, GWS in Canberra, Fremantle at Bunbury and West Coast (at Optus Stadium). That’s a tough period."

Last time we met

The Roos were on another level when these clubs last met back in Round 6 of this season, leading for all but a handful of minutes at the start of the game before putting their foot down in the second half to coast to the 20.9 (130) to 7.13 (55) victory.

Harry Sheezel (39 disposals) and Colby McKercher (26 disposals) were simply superb across the ground, both chipping in with a goal each as well.

Paul Curtis had his kicking boots on, finishing with a career-high bag of six majors, while Cooper Trembath snagged three of his own.

The AFL world also got its first taste of what Cam Zurhaar can do in a half-back role as the No.44 notched 23 touches and 658 metres gained at Marvel Stadium.

Cooper Trembath hit a new career high as North Melbourne outfought Richmond for its seventh win of the season on Sunday.

The Kangaroos won by 25 points at the MCG, 10.13 (73) to 6.12 (48).

TIGERS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

Trembath's class was telling as he starred in his first game at the home of football.

He kicked four goals, one after hauling in a skilful one-hand mark, and set up Dylan Stephens for the sealing goal late in the fourth quarter.

Harry Sheezel (31 disposals, five clearances) and Luke Parker (30 disposals, 11 marks) were influential as the Roos took control after half-time. 

George Wardlaw celebrated his 50-game milestone with two goals from 15 touches, while Caleb Daniel led all comers with a game-high 40 disposals at 90 per cent efficiency, plus 16 marks and seven rebound 50s. 

The game opened up after half-time, North extending its lead from eight points at the main break to 26 points at three-quarter time.

The scoreboard separation was mainly due to 20-year-old Trembath contributing two of North's three goals in the third term, while the Tigers added just four points to their tally.

Trembath also spent time in the ruck at centre bounce, combining with Tristan Xerri in one-two punch that created headaches for Richmond skipper Toby Nankervis, who returned to the line-up for his first game since round two.

The young Tigers refused to give in, kicking three of their six goals in the final term, two to utility Noah Balta and one to Liam Fawcett, but goals to Xerri and Stephens put the win well and truly out of doubt, making it back-to-back wins for North.

Despite the immaculate weather conditions, both sides struggled to hit the scoreboard in the first quarter, kicking just a goal apiece in the winter sunshine.

Errant ball use and poor decision making meant the game was often slow moving and contested, allowing both sides to flood into defence to make it difficult to find marks inside 50.

When North did get pace on the ball, a number of times due to the run and carry of Colby McKercher off half-back, the Roos looked a class above the Tigers. 

Saving Big X

Regular Roos ruck Tristan Xerri had a couple of handy helpers today, with Cooper Trembath and Taylor Goad sharing the ruck load. The three big men took on Toby Nankervis and Noah Balta, in a combination that we will potentially see more of in the future. Clarkson said the plan was to manage Xerri's loads heading into the second half of the season. "We're just really mindful of the load that Big Xerri has to take for our side. When you combine all the stoppages with the centre bounces, he's sometimes doing 80 contests a game and that's just with the stoppage. With (Goad) and Trembath, Jack Darling can give us a bit of a chop out … that just dilutes the amount of responsibility you feel you need to rely on Big X to do all that."

Next Up

The Kangaroos have the chance to beat Essendon for the second time this season as they return to Marvel Stadium in Round 16. They face the Bombers next Sunday at 3.15pm AEST. 

RICHMOND                 1.2    3.4   3.8     6.12 (48)
NORTH MELBOURNE  1.2    4.6   7.10  10.13 (73)

GOALS
Richmond: Balta 2, Alger, Cumming, Fawcett, Lefau 
North Melbourne: Trembath 4, Wardlaw 2, Konstanty, Larkey, Stephens, Xerri

BEST
Richmond: Taranto, Tresize, Brown, Balta, Short
North Melbourne: Trembath, Wardlaw, Daniel, Sheezel, Parker

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
North Melbourne: Nil 

Crowd: 41,806 at the MCG