The second game on Saturday for AFL Round 17 is between North Melbourne Kangaroos and St Kilda Saints. The match is to be played at Blundstone Arena with the opening bounce set to commence at 2:10 PM local time with home team North Melbourne Kangaroos currently holding favouritism in the market. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between North Melbourne Kangaroos and St Kilda Saints.
Round: Round 17 , July 12, 2014, 2:10 PM
Stadium: Blundstone Arena
Weather: 10° Possible morning shower.
Preview:
The Kangaroos play the Saints on Saturday, 2.10PM at Blunderstone Arena. North Melbourne should be able to win this one easily, with the Saints continuing to struggle down the bottom of the ladder. While the Roos have been terribly inconsistent this season, St Kilda have simply been terrible and don’t look like turning things around any time soon. After a bright 3-2 start to the 2014 season, St Kilda have lost their last 10 games by an average margin of 63 points. Even if the Roos have a shocker this weekend, they should be safe against the Saints.
Teams:
NORTH MELBOURNE 
B Luke McDonald, Scott D. Thompson, Scott McMahon
HB Shaun Atley, Lachlan Hansen, Michael Firrito
C Sam Gibson, Andrew Swallow, Sam Wright
HF Brent Harvey, Aaron Black, Nick Dal Santo
F Ben Brown, Drew Petrie, Lindsay Thomas
FOLL Todd Goldstein, Ben Cunnington, Levi Greenwood
I/C Ryan Bastinac, Ben Jacobs, Leigh Adams,Aaron Mullett
EMG Brad McKenzie, Trent Dumont, Majak Daw
IN Aaron Mullett
OUT Liam Anthony (Omitted)
ST KILDA 
B Sam Fisher, Luke Delaney, Sean Dempster
HB Shane Savage, James Gwilt, Dylan Roberton
C Jack Newnes, Lenny Hayes, Leigh Montagna
HF Luke Dunstan, Nick Riewoldt, David Armitage
F Adam Schneider, Rhys Stanley, Jack Billings
FOLL Tom Hickey, Sebastian Ross, Maverick Weller
I/C Farren Ray, Tom Curren, Sam Dunell,Cameron Shenton
EMG Clinton Jones, Josh Saunders, Darren Minchington
IN Sam Fisher, Lenny Hayes, Tom Hickey, Tom Curren
OUT Darren Minchington (Omitted), Trent Dennis-Lane (Omitted), Jack Steven (Thigh), Billy Longer (Omitted)
News:
North Melbourne victories over the AFL’s big guns have skipper Andrew Swallow refusing to write off 2014′s premiers coming from outside the top four.
The inconsistent Kangaroos have at least been consistent in causing headaches for the competition’s best four sides, downing Port Adelaide, Sydney, Fremantle and, last week, premiers Hawthorn.
Swallow’s side sit seventh heading into round 17 and with a relatively favourable run to the finals.
“It definitely is hard (to win from outside the top four),” he told reporters in Hobart.
“I don’t want to say you can’t do it but we want to give ourselves an opportunity to get there (and) we know we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
“We’ve been inconsistent in our performances and probably, at the moment, we don’t deserve to be there but we’ll try to rectify that over the last seven weeks of the year.”
The other consistency in a bumpy season for North has been their ability to crash to strugglers.
A devastating four-point loss to Brisbane two weeks ago was the low point, with the Kangaroos desperate to prove last week’s rebound against the Hawks was a permanent turnaround.
A loss to last-placed St Kilda at Bellerive on Saturday would represent the ultimate eviction from the penthouse to the doghouse.
The Saints make their first trip to Hobart having lost 10 straight by an average of 63 points.
“We’ve been burnt before, this year, quite a number of times,” Swallow said.
“You feel like it’s groundhog day.
“We’ve scratched our heads and we’ve gone through everything and I think it comes down to the mentality of the group.”
Swallow said the 20-point win over the Hawks had shown his side the level they needed to perform at.
“We were really disappointed with the loss against Brisbane,” he said.
“We think if we can match that (against Hawthorn), we can really set ourselves up to have a good crack at the finals.”
The Kangaroos are 2-2 from their first two seasons in Hobart, where the club is reportedly considering basing three games per season from 2015.
They continue to be without Jack Ziebell (knee) but welcome back Aaron Mullett for Liam Anthony.
Veteran Saints defender Sam Fisher will play his first AFL game in 13 months after a horror run with hamstring injuries.
Lenny Hayes and Tom Hickey also return for the Saints, who are $14 outsiders to snap their losing streak.
