Round 21
North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs
Sunday, August 12
Etihad Stadium
First bounce: 1.10pm (AEST)
Gates open: 11.30am (AEST)

Storyline

Footy fans are witnessing the start of a what is a fascinating modern day rivalry between North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.

Sunday’s clash between the sides will be the next installment of the story, with the previous three clashes being decided by three points or less.

For North, a win is crucial in keeping its finals hopes alive, as every match from here is shaping as a mini-final.

As for the Western Bulldogs, they’re riding a high following their impressive 35-point win over St Kilda last Saturday night.

Big Ben’s time

With three games to go, the Coleman Medal race is heating up, with Ben Brown leading a rampaging Tom Hawkins by just four goals.

The Medal would be nice recognition for Brown, but he would no doubt be fully focused on doing everything he can to get his team across the line.

In terms of goals, the past three weeks have been relatively lean for the 25-year-old, kicking a total of four goals.

It’s a far cry from the form he was in the month prior, when he kicked 17 goals which included two four-goal hauls and an impressive five-goal performance.

That five-goal outing came against the Bulldogs in Round 14, which he’ll be hoping to replicate against the Dogs once again.

It was Marcus Adams and Jackson Trengove that were tasked with restricting Brown, but with Adams sidelined with with a shoulder injury and Trengove forced to do much of the ruck-work with Tom Boyd out of the side, the proven key defensive stocks are relatively light on.

First-year player Aaron Naughton may be the one assigned to the tall Roo.

Higgins v Macrae

There aren’t many things more exciting in football than seeing two impressive midfielders go toe-to-toe, and fans may be witness to exactly that this weekend, with Shaun Higgins and Jack Macrae both set to play.

Higgins, who missed North’s win over the Lions last weekend after undergoing knee surgery, looks likely to return to the side less than two weeks after going under the knife, named in the Roos' initial squad. 

Considered a genuine All-Australian contender this season, Higgins’ outside run, elite ball use and ability to hit the scoreboard makes him a valuable asset to the hard-nosed North midfield.

Bulldog Jack Macrae has had a blistering season to date, despite missing three games after the bye.

The 24-year-old is averaging a career-high 31.7 disposals in 2018 with ranks him third amongst the competition in disposals per game.

Both Higgins and Macrae are great accumulators of the ball, with the former recording eight 30-plus disposal games, and the latter a cool 13, the most in the league.

With neither side naming any genuine taggers, we could see both stars add to their respective tallies.

Avenues to goal

Coaches are always striving to find new avenues to goal, but for North and the Bulldogs, last weekend proved both sides are well ahead in that area.

In Round 20, both sides had ten individual goal-kickers in games in which they kicked over 100 points.

North would have been encouraged that despite key forwards Ben Brown, Mason Wood and Jarrad Waite combining for just four goals, it was still able to kick a very strong score.

Skipper Jack Ziebell led from the front with three, while small forwards Shaun Atley and Kayne Turner joined second-gamer Will Walker with two majors.

Having Brown, Waite, Wood and Ziebell back in the same forward-line helps stretch the opposition, and allows those smaller players to impact the scoreboard.

For the Bulldogs, they experimented with somewhat of a new-look forward-line, headlined by Bontempelli who kicked four majors.

Recruit Josh Schache booted three, while fellow youngsters Fergus Greene and Patrick Lipinski also kicked goals.

Luke Beveridge has been forced to find these fresh forward formations in the absence of Billy Gowers, Tom Boyd, Jackson Redpath and Liam Picken.

Western Bulldogs squad

B Dale Morris, Aaron Naughton, Ed Richards
HB Hayden Crozier, Zaine Cordy, Jason Johannisen
C Lachie Hunter, Jack Macrae, Patrick Lipinski
HF Billy Gowers, Josh Schache, Toby McLean
F Tory Dickson, Marcus Bontempelli, Jordan Roughead
FOL Jackson Trengove, Josh Dunkley, Mitch Wallis
I/C Lewis Young, Mitch Honeychurch, Callum Porter, Fergus Greene, Caleb Daniel, Brad Lynch, Tim English, Lin Jong
 
In: Billy Gowers, Lewis Young, Mitch Honeychurch, Callum Porter, Tim English
Out: Roarke Smith (Rested)

Burning questions

Will this match follow the trend of recent encounters?
In the past three meetings between North and the Western Bulldogs, the margins have been two points, one point and three points.

If recent history is anything to go by, fans could be treated to another nail-biter.

Can Trent Dumont replicate his Round 20 form?
North’s Trent Dumont stood up to the plate last weekend in the absence of Shaun Higgins, collecting 29 disposals and laying three tackles.

The 23-year-old is looking for consistency in his game, and another performance like his latest one will go a long way towards a Roos' win.

Can the Bulldogs secure the victory for Dale Morris?
Dogs defender Dale Morris will play his 250th game this weekend.

A beloved figure at the club, Morris’ milestone will undoubtedly add some motivation to the Dogs' side.