West Coast v North Melbourne
Monday, July 12 - 7:40pm AEST
Optus Stadium

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Monday night football is back, and North Melbourne will travel west to take on the Eagles, in a clash between two sides currently surrounded by vastly different narratives.

North is a team on the up, with much improved performances evidence of the fact the new game plan and process is really starting to click.

West Coast, on the other hand, is clinging onto a spot in the top eight after struggling since its Round 14 bye.

Last week’s loss to the Western Bulldogs should not be taken at face value, as North well and truly had opportunities to not only trim the margin, but even win the game.

Ben Cunnington was at his brilliant best with 26 disposals, 9 clearances and 2 goals, while Cam Zurhaar was deadly in the forward 50 with 4 majors of his own.

The Eagles come into this week off the back of consecutive losses, going down to the Bulldogs by 55 in Round 15, before last week’s 92-point dismantling at the hands of Sydney.

Dom Sheed finished that contest with 37 disposals, while Elliot Yeo had 26 touches, 8 tackles and kicked 1 of West Coast’s 3 goals.

Last time we met:

Round 18, 2020

The final game of last season was a low scoring affair, with just 11 goals kicked between the two sides for the game.

The inaccuracy of kicking 4 goals and 10 behinds ended up costing North Melbourne, as West Coast ran out as 15-point winners to lock in fifth place on the ladder.

Jy Simpkin and Jed Anderson were dominant forces in the midfield for North, with the current vice-captain registering a game-high 32 disposals, as well as 5 tackles.

Anderson racked up 30 touches, 5 clearances and a goal.

Oscar Allen was the danger man for West Coast, kicking 3 goals, while Liam Ryan ably chipped in with 2 of his own.

The matchup:

Todd Goldstein v Nic Naitanui

Two of the premier rucks in the AFL will lock horns once again on Monday, with the athleticism and power of Nic Naitanui taking on the intelligence and experience of Todd Goldstein.

With both players ranked within the top five for total hitouts across the AFL this season, both players are putting together campaigns worthy of All-Australian consideration.

Goldstein has returned to the peak of his powers in the last three weeks, averaging over 42 hitouts and 3 clearances a game, with the veteran dominating quality opponents like Oscar McInerney and Tim English.

While Naitanui hasn’t been registering the same hitout numbers as Goldstein, his consistency across the last two weeks has been a shining light for a struggling West Coast side.

While winning the hitout numbers doesn’t necessarily mean a team will win, both rucks are of such high quality, if they get over the top of their direct opponent, their midfield could run amok.

They key men:

Aaron Hall and Jeremy McGovern

No two players in the AFL are the same, however it would be near impossible to name two half-back flankers who are as different as Aaron Hall and Jeremy McGovern, however each is just as crucial to his team as the other.

McGovern is a strong and powerful intercept marking threat, often coming off of his man to impose himself on the contest with swagger. Currently ranked 12th in the AFL for intercept marks, he’s playing to his strengths.

Hall, on the other hand, acts as North’s quarterback, elegantly and intelligently moving the ball forward time and time again, setting the team up for goal kicking opportunities out of the back half.

That’s not to say McGovern can’t impact games with the football in hand, or Hall struggles with the defensive side of his role, but both players offer exceptional insight into both sides of the modern half-back flanker.

With both sides offering numerous threats on both sides of the ball, Hall and McGovern will have to execute their roles to near perfection to allow their side the best chance of victory.

The stat:

The opportunity for a player to break an AFL record doesn’t roll around all that often. Kevin Bartlett’s record of 8293 career kicks is still nearly 2000 clear of the next contender, and he retired in 1983.

Statistics like that make it all the more impressive that Todd Goldstein will likely break the all-time hitout record this weekend, with the North ruck currently just 6 hitouts behind current record holder Aaron Sandilands.

Goldstein’s longevity is almost unrivalled, especially since he didn’t play a senior game in his first season, and only played three games in his second.

His average of 31.94 hitouts per game is currently enough to place fourth in the all-time rankings, with Sandilands being the only player inside the top ten to have played more games than him.

It’s almost poetic that Goldstein looks set to break the record in Perth, the city where Sandilands played his entire career … not bad for a number 37 draft pick.