I imagine this would have been one of the nicer forums to visit though 🙂

Definition of trap game. We've learned recently how switched on we need to be for these kinds of games, let's see it from the get-go!

Clarko will definitely lay a trap for us. If everything goes well, and he's carrying his lucky rabbit's foot, and finds a four leaf clover on the way to ground, it might come off, and if conversely our coaches are slow on the uptake on how to counter it, you never know. A 9.11 to 7.13 boilover. A long shot but he will definitely try something. Most likely it will involve some bash and crash, but I also think it will involve trying to confuse our backline and get them out of their routines.

The last two times we've played them:

1. We struggled to put them away until midway through the third quarter last year, at Marvel
2. We were something like 20 points down to them in the third quarter in 2021, in Hobart

We rarely play our best football against North Melbourne, for whatever reason. We also rarely play our best football against Clarkson-coached sides.

They have a few stars (LDU, Simpkin, Sheezel, Larkey), the hot/cold Zurhaar, and then Cunnington, Goldstein and Ziebell. But it falls away after that.

Off a 5-day break, I'll be happy with any sort of win to be honest, but reality is we are streets in front of North on form, talent and development, and should really have no issues with them. I'll be disappointed, but not surprised, if this is an arm-wrestle.

12 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

True, when was the last time we played them at the G though? Seems to always be Docklands or Tassie. Docklands feels like a basketball game half the time the G is a bit different for a younger team.

Round 3 2018 was the last time we played them at the G.

That was the game we broke our 11 year losing streak to them.

In terms of a potential smashing, I don’t think we’re playing clinical enough footy at the moment to do a number on them and unlike Richmond they’re basically full strength.

Thomas broke Lingers ribs in this game last year.

18 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Round 3 2018 was the last time we played them at the G.

That was the game we broke our 11 year losing streak to them.

In terms of a potential smashing, I don’t think we’re playing clinical enough footy at the moment to do a number on them and unlike Richmond they’re basically full strength.

We must focus on creating the plays across the ground. We should not enter  the game with a 'defensive' mindset. That causes us to stand around waiting for something to happen, often too late. We are highly capable of establishing our own terms for the entire match - go out there and do it, Dees. 

They'll play the standard Collingwood wave game and try to overwhelm our backs. Do they have the skill to keep it up?

The downside for us is that the Collingwood wave begins at our 50M line which invariably leads to our forward line being crowded.

The solution is simple... midfield dominance... something that has eluded us in the main this year

50 minutes ago, Salems Lot said:

Thomas broke Lingers ribs in this game last year.

And hasn't he just flourished since 🙄

1 hour ago, Salems Lot said:

Thomas broke Lingers ribs in this game last year.

And Ed hasn't been quite the same since.  Played some very good games but not in the scintillating form he was in before the injury.