North Melbourne will play its 149th game against Essendon on Saturday at Etihad Stadium.

Before the first siren, NMFC.com.au takes you through stats and facts relating to the two teams.

• North’s highest ever winning margin of 59 points against Essendon is its equal lowest against any club.

The 59-point win came in 1985, a year that ended in an Essendon premiership no less.

However North was a good side of its own in that year, finishing fifth and defeating Carlton in an elimination final.

In Round 7 against Essendon, Ross Glendinning and Brendan Ryan kicked four goals each, with Donald McDonald chipping in for three majors of his own.

It was just the fifth senior game for a young Peter German. He would go on to play 185 games for the Kangaroos over 11 seasons before retiring in 1994.

• North’s longest ever winning streak over Essendon came between 2002 and 2007.

The six-game run featured three wins of less than 10 points, with five of the wins coming at Etihad Stadium.

Adam Simpson averaged more than 25 possessions per game during the streak, polling six Brownlow Medal votes along the way.

• Wayne Carey is the owner of the greatest individual performance against Essendon for North.

Against Essendon in 1999, Carey amassed 23 disposals, kicking 10.5 and pumping the ball inside 50 on eight occasions.

Every single one of Carey’s disposals was remarkably either a scoring shot or an inside 50.

In 14 career games against the Bombers, Carey kicked 45 goals.

• North’s most accurate quarter ever came against Essendon.

Unsurprisingly the game in question was Round 16, 2001. North’s 12.1 in the first quarter is by far its most accurate term with 10 or more scoring shots in its history.

• While North’s most accurate quarter ever was against Essendon, three of its five most inaccurate quarters were also against the Bombers.

The quarters in question:

Round 1, 1926 – 0.10 in the final quarter of a 51-point loss.
Round 4, 1982 – 1.10 in the first quarter of a 17-point win.
Round 7, 1970 – 1.10 in the third quarter of a 16-point win.