Round 8 kicks off with West Coast and North both coming into the game with a season record of 3-4.
West Coast’s three wins, two of them in the past fortnight, have come against struggling clubs in Brisbane, Western Bulldogs and Melbourne Demons but they have looked better in recent weeks and it’s no coincidence the improved efforts of coincided with the return of Nic Naitanui.
Their four losses, against sides placed above them on the ladder, have been by margins of 22, 50, 33 and 5.
Whilst North are currently below the Eagles on the ladder, their season record could have been a lot better if not for narrow losses to Hawthorn and Collingwood earlier in the season.
Their past two games have resulted in wins against Port and a comfortable 54 points win over the Western Bulldogs.
Fitness doubts over North’s Captain Andrew Swallow and Aaron Mullet, both of who will be given to the last minute to prove their fitness, is not ideal as North prepare themselves against a team they haven’t beaten since round 21, 2010.
Two of those games were decided by less than a kick and, viewing the stats of each side thus far this season, it could be another close result here.T
TIP: NORTH MELBOURNE +20.5 @ $1.92
Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| West Coast Eagles | 1.36 | 1.36 | 1.33 | 1.36 | 1.36 | 1.37 |
|
North Melbourne Kangaroos
|
3.15 | 3.15 | 3.40 | 3.15 | 3.15 | 3.17 |
Teams:
West Coast Eagles:
B: Jacob Brennan, Darren Glass, Will Schofield
HB: Shannon Hurn, Eric Mackenzie, Beau Waters
C: Matt Rosa, Scott Selwood, Andrew Gaff
HF: Mark LeCras, Jack Darling, Chris Masten
F: Josh Hill, Josh Kennedy, Daniel Kerr
Foll: Nic Naitanui, Matt Priddis, Luke Shuey
Int: Brad Sheppard, Sharrod Wellingham, Dean Cox, Adam Selwood
Emerg: Mitch Brown, Bradd Dalziell, Mark Hutchings
In: Kerr, A. Selwood, Waters, Masten
Out: Brown, Dalziell, Smith, Hutchings
North Melbourne Kangaroos:
B: Scott McMahon, Scott Thompson, Jamie Macmillan
HB: Daniel Wells Nathan Grima, Michael Firrito
C: Sam Gibson, Shaun Atley, Ryan Bastinac
HF: Ben Cunnington, Drew Petrie, Brent Harvey
F: Lindsay Thomas, Majak Daw, Leigh Adams
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Andrew Swallow, Jack Ziebell
Int: Lachie Hansen, Sam Wright, Aaron Black, Aaron Mullett
Emerg: Kieren Harper, Taylor Hine, Will Sierakowski
In: Grima
Out: Sierakowski
