North Melbourne will look to bounce back from its defeat to the Western Bulldogs when it locks horns with Melbourne for the second time this season.

The sides will meet on Sunday at the MCG, which the Roos have found to be a happy hunting ground in 2025, claiming two wins from two games at the venue so far.

Round 18, Melbourne v North Melbourne
Where: MCG, Melbourne, VIC
When: Sunday, July 13 at 1.10pm AEST 
How to watch: Foxtel, Kayo Sports

The opposition

The Demons gave the Crows a scare at Adelaide Oval last weekend, but couldn't top the home side, going down by 13 points in an entertaining bout.

They'll enter Round 18 placed 14th on the ladder and on a five-game losing streak, with their last victory being a Round 11 triumph over Sydney.

Kysaiah Pickett is in a rich vein of form and returns to the MCG after kicking two goals from 24 touches against Adelaide. The Roos will also need to have a plan for Daniel Turner, who took 16 marks and made 10 intercepts in one of the best performances of his 30-game career.

On the injury front, coach Simon Goodwin will again be without Harrison Petty, but could regain Blake Howes from concussion.

What the coach has said

North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson on Thursday: "The Melbourne midfield is a real strength of their side and (Max) Gawn is the leader of that, so we need to make sure we're really competitive in that part of the game.

"(Kysaiah Pickett) is a real X-factor player ... he's been in really good form for them and he slips beautifully between midfield and forward play. We need to curtail him ... when he plays well, the Demons are a much greater chance of winning games of footy."

Last time we met

The Kangaroos celebrated Jack Darling's milestone 300th game in style, overcoming an inaccurate start to win 19.11 (125) to 9.12 (66) to get their first win on the board in 2025.

A dominant final quarter by the Kangaroos, in which they kicked eight goals to Melbourne's one, blew out the margin from 18 points at three-quarter time to nearly 10 goals.

North Melbourne's midfield, led by ruck Tristan Xerri (29 hitouts, 12 clearances) and Tom Powell (31 disposals) were the difference, along with livewire forwards Cam Zurhaar (four goals), Paul Curtis (three goals, 22 disposals) and Nick Larkey (three goals).