Western Bulldogs vs. North Melbourne
Saturday May 11 2013, 4.40pm
Venue: Etihad Stadium

Head-to-head:

Round 19, 4 August, 2012: North Melbourne 18. 7. (115) defeated Western Bulldogs 8. 13. (61), Etihad Stadium
Round 7, 13 May 2012: Western Bulldogs 15. 11. (101) defeated North Melbourne 12. 11. (83), Etihad Stadium
Round 17, 17 July 2011: North Melbourne 21. 16. (142) defeated Western Bulldogs 17. 9. (111), Etihad Stadium
Round 18, 1 August 2010: Western Bulldogs 22. 11. (143) defeated North Melbourne 10. 12. (72), Etihad Stadium

Last time they met:

  • Western Bulldogs fielded 13 players with less than 50 games of experience, as opposed to North Melbourne who had 7 players.
  • North Melbourne’s two best players on the day included Drew Petrie who scored 5 goals, Ryan Bastinac who collected 31 disposals, five inside 50s and three goal assists, as well as Brent Harvey who finished the day with 32 disposals, seven marks and three clearances.
  • The Brownlow votes were distributed as follows: R Bastinac 3, D Petrie 2, M Boyd 1.
  • The Bulldogs had two debutants in Jason Johannisen and Michael Talia

Recent form:

Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs’ inexperienced side were unable to contend with West Coast’s scoring power last weekend, which led to the Club’s fifth consecutive defeat. Season 2013 has produced varied results for the Bulldogs, with a number of competitive performances against quality opponents as well as a couple of bigger defeats. Last year’s focus was on winning the contested ball, which the Bulldogs are now consistently achieving - with Coach Brendan McCartney now extending his focus to team defence and ball movement.

North Melbourne
North Melbourne’s win-loss ratio doesn’t accurately depict how competitive a side they have been this season. While they only have two wins to their name, another two games have been lost by less than a goal. The return of Brent Harvey and milestone games to Scott Thompson (100 career games) and Michael Firrito (200 career games) will also provide a boost to the side that defeated an in form Port Adelaide last week. North have won both the clearances and hitouts in each of their first six matches – except one game where Sydney won the ruck battle.

Key matchups and gamebreakers:

  • The battle around the stoppages will be fierce on the weekend with the league’s two leading hitout winners in Will Minson (first) and Todd Goldstein (second) going head to head. It is only fitting that with the good service from their ruckmen, the competition’s leading clearance winners also play for the Bulldogs and North Melbourne in Tom Liberatore and Andrew Swallow. While the young pup currently tops the league in total clearances and centre clearances, Swallow has him in check around the stoppages.
  • Clay Smith has been in promising form recently, with the midfielder playing a small forward role to great effect.
  • Lindsay Thomas is currently leading the Coleman medal race after six rounds having kicked multiple goals in every game this season. Two five goal hauls further confirm his influence will need to be nullified.