Where and when: Marvel Stadium, Sunday, March 31, 1.10pm AEDT
Last time they met: The Gabba, round 20, 2018: Brisbane 16.8 (104) lost to North Melbourne 16.11 (107)
The Roos led for most of the day and by as many as 29 points in the second quarter, but barely withstood the Lions’ withering fightback. It was only when No.1 draft pick Cam Rayner missed his set snap inside the last 30 seconds, after receiving a free kick, that North was safe.
What it means for North Melbourne: Lots for the Roos’ season. What was supposed to be a competitive contest with Fremantle – one they genuinely thought they could win – turned into an 82-point hiding and immediately put them on the back foot.
What it means for Brisbane: The Lions roared last week in upsetting West Coast to back up the pre-season hype, but now the challenge is winning these types of 50-50 games as well, when the expectation is higher.
How North Melbourne wins: Brad Scott reflected after round one on his side’s “dysfunctional forward line” among a series of issues, including being badly beaten at stoppages, too many turnovers and their inability to defend. Addressing those problems will go a long way to victory.
How Brisbane wins: The Lions’ willingness to adapt to last week’s scenario with their forward line, in particular, was a big part of their opening-round success, as was their dominance at the source. Brisbane’s midfielders are the key again.
The stat: Brisbane lost its past six matches to North Melbourne and hasn’t beaten the Roos at Marvel Stadium since 2009, with seven defeats since then.
The match-up: Robbie Tarrant v Eric Hipwood
Tarrant is officially the Roos’ second-ranked defender in the AFL Player Ratings (211th overall), but is widely considered the main man down back at Arden St. Hipwood (355th overall) wasn’t prominent in last week’s conditions and will look to bounce back in a big way.
It’s a big week for: Jamie Macmillan
A quick look at the stats and you’ll see Macmillan racked up a game-high 37 touches. Pretty impressive, huh? That is, until you realise he coughed up a whopping 12 turnovers. Macmillan is typically a player who can be relied upon on a weekly basis, but he’ll be keen to positively respond to his latest performance.
Father Dougals’s Tip: North by 7. At home, and while the Lions have improved I’m not sure they have improved enough to win today. I have medium confidence in this pick.
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Final teams #AFLRoosLions: Trent Dumont has been replaced by Tarryn Thomas.
No changes for the Lions.
LATE CHANGES
North Melbourne: Tarryn Thomas replaced Trent Dumont (calf tightness) in the selected side
Brisbane: No change
FINAL INTERCHANGES
North Melbourne: J.Pittard, D.Tyson, T.Thomas, B.Scott
Brisbane: R.Bastinac, S.Martin, Z.Bailey, R.Mathieson
NORTH Melbourne will hand a debut to Academy selection Tarryn Thomas on Sunday after Trent Dumont was a late withdrawal from the side to face Brisbane.
Thomas was selected by the Roos at pick No.8 in last year’s NAB AFL Draft as a product of its Next Generation Academy.
The Tasmanian is a hard-nosed midfielder who can also play across half-forward.
Goldy looks cooked today
hall going well
Fielded Butters last week, Scott this week…
Looking like it’ll cost me 30 points a week…
looking like nailing the onfield rooks will be tough this year
1/2 time
A. Hall 89
D. Rich 56
J. Polec 82
L. Neale 54
B. Cunnington 70
S. Martin 54
L. Davies-Uniacke 59
H. Andrews 51
S. Higgins 58
D. Zorko 47
D. Tyson 57
A. Witherden 43
J. Ziebell 40
M. Robinson 42
J. Macmillan 37
L. McCarthy 40
K. Turner 36
L. Hodge 39
T. Thomas 36
J. Berry 39
R. Tarrant 33
C. Rayner 35
S. Thompson 33
J. Lyons 35
T. Goldstein 31
O. McInerney 33
J. Pittard 31
Z. Bailey 33
S. Atley 29
H. McCluggage 30
L. McDonald 28
D. Gardiner 27
B. McKay 26
E. Hipwood 27
B. Scott 23
C. Cameron 27
J. Simpkin 21
R. Bastinac 26
T. Campbell 19
R. Mathieson 26
M. Williams 12
D. McStay 17
B. Brown 22
J. Walker 6
big Mummy back next week , those who have the Hoff might be tempted to move him fwd if they have issues there & throw Mummy @ 300k into the ruck , a year off , he should be fresh
Could be a good move PJ but wait a week
not me mate , im stickn with grundy gawn , brodie always starts slow & max should come good
Daniel Rich! Quality pressure with the game in the line. And they hit the front 🙂
looks sharp this year
Had him in my team. Couple of trolls got me to trade him out…sigh.
3 Q time
B. Cunnington 108
D. Rich 102
A. Hall 100
L. Neale 102
J. Polec 85
S. Martin 91
L. Davies-Uniacke 84
O. McInerney 79
S. Higgins 73
A. Witherden68
D. Tyson 66
J. Berry 66
J. Macmillan 57
H. Andrews 65
J. Ziebell 57
M. Robinson 58
T. Goldstein 57
H. McCluggage 56
T. Thomas 56
R. Mathieson 56
S. Thompson 52
L. Hodge 55
J. Pittard 50
D. Zorko 54
K. Turner 47
L. McCarthy 52
T. Campbell 46
E. Hipwood 45
L. McDonald 44
J. Lyons 43
R. Tarrant 42
D. Gardiner 41
S. Atley 39
C. Rayner 40
B. Brown 39
R. Bastinac 40
B. McKay 33
J. Walker 37
J. Simpkin 32
Z. Bailey 36
B. Scott 27
C. Cameron 26
M. Williams 12
D. McStay 26
neale tons up @ 3 Q time in a close game , nice
Did almost everyone field Scott instead of Butters? If so it doesn’t really matter
No, Butters for me.
HS match centre not working
Same here,across all three formats.Nth v Bris stuck on 3/4 time scores,Haw v WB stuck on 0!ffs!
HS?!?
Fanfooty down as well.
PJ spamming the SC scors usually annoys me because it increases my scroll time, but oh how I miss it now. I’m in limbo!
would you prefer i didn’t post the SC scores each Q ?
FYI I appreciate the scores PJ , saves me the hassle of checking multiple websites
sorry guys , no SC scores available , site has crashed
Scores are up on the SC site, problem is they are all 3/4 time scores, still!!!!
yeah – surely they cannot be correct??!
FF site has no SC stats / scores … has the stats / scores for the other formats but SC just shows 1 for everyone …
Neale ended up with 43 disposals, 18 kicks, 25HB, 7 mrk, 6 tckle, 1 free against, 16 CPs and 79%DE – think he should be quite large … fingers crossed as an owner!!
Weird. Still 826pts to be allocated!
Neale has been put in for 102 at super coach site… Surely not. But it’s in green.
Not right mate. See above. Am sure they’ll address it eventually 😉
Scores finally updated. Neale got 140. The rest to follow …