Saturday first AFL Round 5 match is between Collingwood Magpies and North Melbourne Kangaroos with the game to be played at MCG. The opening bounce is set to commence at 1.40pm with home team Collingwood Magpies currently holding favouritism. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between Collingwood Magpies and North Melbourne Kangaroos.

Round: Round 5, Saturday April 19, 1.40pm AEST
Stadium: MCG
Weather: 17° Possible shower.

Odds Comparison:

Collingwood Magpies	1.83	1.83	1.82	1.83	1.83	1.82
North Melbourne Kangaroos	2.00	2.00	2.02	2.00	2.00	1.95

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

Preview:

The first Saturday match of Round 5 is between the Magpies and Kangaroos, kicking off at the MCG at 1.40PM.  The odds are almost even for this one, with Collingwood slight favourites to take home the points.  Both of these teams will go into this encounter showing confidence, with impressive recent victories leaving the Roos in 6th ladder position and the Magpies in 9th.

If North Melbourne win, it will be four victories in a row for the Roos, following their upset win over Sydney last Sunday.  First they will have to make it past a dominant Collingwood midfield, however, with the Magpies also enjoying an easy win over Richmond last weekend.  If Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams, and Dane Swan all play like they have been, North Melbourne will have to work very hard indeed.

Teams:

Collingwood Magpies

B: A.Toovey, J.Frost, T.Langdon

HB: N.Maxwell, L.Keeffe, A.Fasolo

C: S.Sidebottom, B.Macaffer, H.Lumumba

HF: D.Beams, J.White, L.Ball

F: J.Elliott, T.Cloke, J.Witts

Foll: B.Grundy, D.Swan, S.Pendlebury

I/C: T.Goldsack, J.Blair, C.Young, J.Thomas

Emg: M.Clarke, T.Adams, S.Dwyer

NO CHANGE

North Melbourne Kangaroos

B: M.Firrito, N.Grima, N.Dal Santo

HB: S.Atley, S.Thompson, L.Greenwood

C: S.Gibson, R.Bastinac, B.McKenzie

HF: L.Thomas, A.Black, B.Cunnington

F: L.Adams, D.Petrie, L.Hansen

Foll: T.Goldstein, D.Wells, B.Harvey

I/C: A.Mullett, L.McDonald, B.Jacobs, D.Currie

Emg: J.Tippett, R.Nahas, S.Wright

IN: D.Currie

OUT: R.Nahas

News:

The AFL’s form defender is set for a crucial battle with an out-of-sorts Travis Cloke, but that’s hardly cause for confidence at North Melbourne.

Scott Thompson was arguably best afield in North’s impressive win over Sydney at the SCG last Sunday, keeping Lance Franklin goalless for the second time in a row.

As the Kangaroos push for a top-four spot on Saturday against Collingwood at the MCG, the incumbent All-Australian full-back will again be key to their hopes of victory.

Thompson is set to man Cloke, who has kicked two goals from four games in an underwhelming start to the season.

“History shows he’s a great player and although he hasn’t been in the best form, he’s still a great player,” Thompson said prior to the side’s Good Friday training session.

“Going from Lance Franklin to probably Travis Cloke, I still won’t have too much sleep tonight.

“I don’t really take form into a game. I just try and play the player on his merits.

“There’s always a chance he (Cloke) can dominate … he’s probably one of the strongest players in the AFL.”

Given Cloke booted a combined tally of nine goals in the two games between the sides last year, it’s easy to understand Thompson’s wariness.

Just ask coach Brad Scott.

“Cloke generally saves his best for us,” Scott said.

“(Thompson) will definitely spend time on him. Michael Firrito has played on him before. Nathan Grima and (Lachie) Hansen and Thompson have all taken their turns.

“That probably tells you that we haven’t found the ideal method to contain him.”

It begs the question, how do you contain someone of Cloke’s ilk – presuming he hits his straps on Saturday?

“He likes to play deep and get the one-on-one contests,” Thompson said.

“If you’ve got some help, you can get in a wrestle with him.

“But if you don’t, you probably don’t want to get into too much of a wrestle.”

Cloke copped some Bronx cheers from the black-and-white faithful for some errors last Friday night.

Thompson said taunting was one tactic he was unlikely to try at the MCG.

“I’m not a bit sledger. If you sledge them and they kick a goal, you’ll get it back twice as hard.”