Carlton coach David Teague expects nothing less than a fired-up North Melbourne to run out onto the Gabba on Saturday afternoon.
While both teams have mixed their form in recent weeks, the Roos’ five straight losses have them sitting second-last on the AFL table.
North has come in for much criticism this week, but Teague said his former team couldn’t be underestimated.
“They are a pretty proud club. They are pretty passionate and quite often when teams face adversity they come out strong,” he told the media on Friday.
“I’ve got no doubt Rhyce (Shaw) will be encouraging the players to play their way, and in the past they’ve had the wood over us … I think they’ve won the last five.”
North won last year’s Round 7 clash by 58 points, and will be buoyed by the return of a player who booted five goals on that day – Cameron Zurhaar.
Jed Anderson, Luke Davies-Uniacke and Nick Larkey also return, but the Roos have lost Jack Ziebell (hamstring) and Aiden Bonar (soreness) to injury.
Carlton will be keen to bounce back from a last-gasp defeat against the Power last week, and will go in as favourites.
“We understand that they’ve probably got confidence in playing against us, but we can’t control what’s happening at North Melbourne. We can control what’s happening here and the way we go about it,” Teague added.
“We’ve really focused on us and playing the way we want to play, but we’re preparing for a really physical contest with North Melbourne.”
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