If I remmember last year correctly, Hamish Macintosh kicked a few goals when he went forward.We will probably need to help out in defense to cut him out due to his size. Rivers could come in to play this role. Not sure who to drop though. They also have a coupe of midfielders that are ok, besides Harvey. I think if we keep up our tackle rate and pressure, we should be much stronger in the clearances to do enough to win. Hopefully Pettard is ok to play.

MacIntosh was playing on PJ who allowed him to drift forward unaccounted. I am not sure why Jamar/ Martin run with MacIntosh. I cant see the need for Rivers to be selected to do that.

I think against Adelaide and Brisbane the conditions were not ideal for the type of run and carry game the midfield plan calls for. Etihad stadium should see optimum conditions. A smaller ground will suit the more mobile team I think which is us. Martin will be an option down back, forward and as a ruck change so I think he will get the game. Rivers form is compelling and there is the temptation to leave either Dunne or Bennell out. I think we are overweight in defensive talent and I would prefer to reward a victory with "no changes to its Brisbane line up" - I have reservations about Dunne - particularly his disposal but he did a team job on Saturday and I like him as a marking option in the forward line.

I would have thought the form of Warnock, Frawley, Garland, Grimes, Bartram and Bruce up back against some of the most heralded forwards in the game was even more compelling.

After what people saw and witnessed on Saturday night, why is there a desparate need to play Rivers? He only has some of the skills the bigger defenders have and the skills he is lauded are easily covered.

I'm about as confident winning this game as I was before the Collingwood game.

For some reason, we always bring out the best in North Melbourne, and they bring out the worst in us. How the hell can a mediocre ruckman in Todd Goldstein kick 5 goals against us in a game?? How the hell can North go on a 9 game losing streak and then beat us by 10 goals late last year.

They have made us look inept since 2007 and have been even harder to beat than Geelong. Would really like to see the trend change on Saturday and I'm interested to see how we perform away from the G.

I think we might have a slip up this week. I believe recent history is always a good form guide in predicting a winner. We have no form against North and we have no form away from the MCG

Before our rebuilding phase we had the wood over North. We'd beat them every time. It's only since we've been trying youngsters and testing the waters that we've been beaten by them. We didn't want to beat them last year. It is incredibly difficult to measure ourselves against the Roos. The focus of the last few seasons hasn't necessarily been winning, but playing the kids and trying things out. It's an understatement, that has been mentioned a couple of times already in this thread, but if we play with the fluidity of Saturday night and confidence, we'll easily account for them. If we go into our shells and turn the ball over they may hurt us. They do have an up and coming midfield and I think people on here underrate them, but ours should still be too strong. As long as Jamar wins the hit outs.