VENUE & TIME: Etihad Stadium, Sunday June 20, 1:10pm (AEST)
HEAD TO HEAD: Played: 23, North Melbourne 16, Port Adelaide 7
LAST TIME: Port Adelaide 13.18 (96) d North Melbourne 11.18 (84), Round 1, 2010 at AAMI Stadium
LAST TIME AT VENUE: North Melbourne 20.5 (125) d Port Adelaide 18.12 (120) Round 7, 2009 at Etihad Stadium
WALKING WOUNDED: North Melbourne has no fresh injury concerns from last week's match, with the team travelling along nicely. Big utility Drew Petrie remains the Roos' primary concern and he is still at least a month away with his foot injury, while young midfielder Liam Anthony is unlikely to feature again this year following his shoulder injury. Port Adelaide will be sweating on a host of key players following its loss to Sydney with Steven Salopek, Brett Ebert, Hamish Hartlett, Jacob Surjan and Chad Cornes all facing fitness tests. Salopek appears the least likely to get up after he dislocated his shoulder yet again last week. Classy defender Nathan Krakouer is still three weeks away, while Warren Tredrea (ankle) and Michael Pettigrew (patella) are long-term casualties.
FORM:
North Melbourne's Past Five:
Round 12: Win, 14.13 (97) - 10.8 (68) v Carlton, Etihad Stadium
Round 11: Win, 12.18 (90) - 13.11 (89) v Brisbane, Etihad Stadium
Round 10: Loss, 11.12 (78) - 21.13 (139) v Fremantle, Subiaco
Round 9: Loss, 7.15 (57) - 20.7 (127) v Western Bulldogs, Etihad Stadium
Round 8: Win, 12.12 (84) - 11.9 (75) v Adelaide, Etihad Stadium
Port Adelaide's Past Five:
Round 12: Loss, 8.7 (55) - 14.9 (93) v Sydney, AAMI Stadium
Round 11: Loss, 8.15 (63) - 10.14 (74) v Hawthorn, MCG
Round 10: Loss 3.12 (30) - 10.17 (77) v Richmond, AAMI Stadium
Round 9: Loss, 16.14 (110) - 17.9 (111) v Melbourne, TIO Stadium
Round 8: Loss, 14.8 (92) - 17.16 (118) v Carlton, AAMI Stadium
North Melbourne has kept its hopes of playing finals football alive with back-to-back victories against more-fancied opposition. Two weeks ago the Kangaroos recorded a memorable one-point victory over Brisbane courtesy of a goal with less than two minutes remaining and they backed that up last week with a stirring 29-point triumph over the high-flying Blues. With six wins from 12 matches, the Kangaroos can be very pleased with their first half of the year. Over in Port Adelaide, everything has gone pear-shaped since the Power won their fifth match of the season in Round 7 against Essendon. Back then, Port had the same amount of wins as Geelong and was sitting equal third, but now its season is shot to pieces following five straight losses including a 47-point humiliation at the hands of Richmond.
WHO'S HOT: No prizes for guessing who gets the nod down at Arden St with Lindsay Thomas producing the best game of his career last week against the Blues. Thomas gathered 20 touches and booted seven goals in a clear best-on-ground performance, although he perhaps could have kicked a few more with five behinds also to his name. But perhaps most pleasing to his coach would be his relentless pressure and eight tackles. Kane Cornes continues to shine for the Power despite their disappointing performances. The star midfielder kept Swan Jarrad McVeigh to just 21 disposals, while he also collected 31 himself, kicked a goal and laid six tackles.
WE THINK: All signs point to a North Melbourne victory, but it's definitely not as clear cut as the bookies have it. The Kangaroos might be flying at the moment following their against-the-odds victory over Carlton, but they only seem to fire when they go into match as underdogs. Last week's win was very impressive, but it will mean very little if they can't back it up this week. It seems like nothing is going right at Port Adelaide with a growing injury list further compounded by Daniel Motlop's poor on-field behaviour last week against the Swans. Only once in their history has the Power slumped to six consecutive losses, back in 2006, and they will no doubt be eager to avoid equalling that record. However they simply don't have enough quality in their team and North should get over the line, although don't be surprised if it's a lot closer that many pundits are predicting. Kangaroos by 12.