North Melbourne will make its third trip to South Australia this season, this time to face Port Adelaide.

Eyes will be on the Roos to see how they respond to a poor run of results, the latest being an 82-point defeat on Good Friday to Carlton.

Round 7, Port Adelaide v North Melbourne
Where: Adelaide Oval, SA
When: Saturday, April 26 at 3.45pm ACST (4.15pm AEST)
How to watch: Foxtel, Kayo Sports

The opposition

The Power enter Round 7 on the back of two victories over finals contenders Hawthorn and Sydney.

Zak Butters' return to the Port Adelaide midfield has provided the side with a significant boost, with the No.9 picking up 27 touches and seven clearances against the Swans last weekend and 33 disposals and four goal assists against the Hawks. 

Saturday stands as a chance for Ken Hinkley's group to move ahead on the win-loss ledger for the first time this season, and inflict more damage on a Kangaroos team they've overcome in 10 of the past 11 meetings.

What the coach has said

North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson on Thursday: "Our system was pretty good against Gold Coast for a period of time, our system against Carlton was pretty good for the first 20 minutes of the game, but then we horribly let ourselves down for about a five-minute patch in the game and it slips away in that patch.

"Some of [the breakdown] is system (based), some of it is just us not knowing how to handle those situations, and then there's a little bit of the 'beaten dog' syndrome. These are the things we need to try and overcome."

Milestone man

Tough nut Luke Parker will celebrate his 300th AFL game when he runs out onto Adelaide Oval this weekend.

A premiership player, former co-captain and three-time best and fairest winner at Sydney, the fearless onballer made 293 appearances in red and white before making the move to Arden Street at the end of 2024.

The Roos will need the experienced campaigner to be at his ball-winning best on Saturday if they're to come away with the four points.