WHERE AND WHEN: Etihad Stadium, Sunday July 1, 4.40pm
LAST TIME: St Kilda 19.21 (135) defeated North Melbourne 10.10 (70), round 23, 2011 at Etihad Stadium

This match shapes as one of the most important of the round, at least when it comes to securing spots in the bottom half of the eight. The Kangaroos and the Saints are two of five teams locked together on six wins and this promises to be an enthralling contest. After the recent mauling at the hands of Hawthorn, North Melbourne has put together two wins - a less than convincing defeat of Gold Coast and a surprise victory over Adelaide. The Saints are coming off a week's break and are looking to launch into the second half of the season.

THE FOUR POINTS

St Kilda

1. The Saints have been honourable in defeat and impressive in victory, but they desperately need to string a couple of wins together. St Kilda has not had the same result for two consecutive weeks since its round two and three wins over Gold Coast and the Western Bulldogs. If St Kilda is to be a force come September, it needs to build some momentum.

2. The Saints have played just the one game with four small forwards Stephen Milne, Adam Schneider, Ahmed Saad and Terry Milera in the one team. That was against the Suns, where team balance doesn't have to be an exact science but St Kilda will have to make some difficult decisions with Saad fit and ready to go this week. All four players deserve to be in the senior 22 but it remains to be seen if they can all fit.

3. St Kilda coach Scott Watters has been praised for bringing an exciting, attacking style of play to his new club but has acknowledged the need to place a greater emphasis on defence. The Saints past three losses have seen it concede at least 17 goals in each game with key forwards Kurt Tipett, Jack Riewoldt and Taylor Walker making life difficult for the St Kilda tall defenders.

4. It's been a couple of years since he was at Arden St but few know the ins and outs of North Melbourne quite as well as Dean Laidley. Laidley has been Watters' right-hand man this year and has been a valuable addition to the St Kilda coaching staff. Laidley has coached 16 of the 22 players who played in North Melbourne's win over Adelaide last week and will have plenty of valuable insight to the squad.

North Melbourne

1. The Kangaroos returned to form last week with an impressive 32-point win over Adelaide, but they will need to maintain that sort of form to beat the eighth-placed Saints. And consistency hasn't been North's strong suit in 2012. After their breakthrough win against Geelong in round three, the Roos won just three of their next eight games, all coming against teams then in the bottom four (Gold Coast, twice, and the Brisbane Lions).

2. North's recent record against the Saints has been poor. It has lost all four games the teams have played since Brad Scott took over as Kangaroos coach in 2010, and won just three of their past 14 encounters. The Roos wasted a golden opportunity to beat St Kilda in round 15 last season when they failed to capitalise on a scoreless final quarter by the Saints, kicking 1.4 to lose by nine points. St Kilda later ended the Roos' 2011 finals hopes with a 65-point drubbing in round 23.

3. North's win against Adelaide was built on its ability to beat the Crows in contested possessions and clearances. The Crows entered last Sunday's game ranked No. 1 in the competition in both categories, but the Roos won 19 more contested possessions and five more clearances. This round North faces another sizeable challenge with the Saints boasting elite stoppage players such as Lenny Hayes and Nick Dal Santo, and emerging inside midfielders David Armitage and Jack Steven.

4. North successfully played three key forwards against the Crows, with Robbie Tarrant, Drew Petrie and Lachlan Hansen combining for seven goals and eight contested marks. It is likely to stick with this three-pronged attack against the Saints, whose key defensive stocks were hit by Zac Dawson's defection to Fremantle at the end of last season. The North trio's probable opponents include Jason Blake, James Gwilt and Sam Gilbert, all of whom will be at a height disadvantage irrespective of which of the Roo talls they play on.

AFL.com.au prediction: St Kilda by 15 points

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs