The first game on Friday for AFL Round 19 is between North Melbourne Kangaroos and Geelong Cats. The match is to be played at Etihad Stadium with the opening bounce set to commence at 7:50pm local time with away team Geelong Cats currently holding favouritism in the market. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between North Melbourne Kangaroos and Geelong Cats.

WHERE AND WHEN: Etihad Stadium, 7:50pm AEST Friday, August 2, 2013

[iframe_loader width=”690″ height=”530″ src=”https://sportsnews.com.au/afl/match.php?id=3130157″]

Opening odds comparison:

North Melbourne Kangaroos	3.45	3.50	3.45	3.50	3.45	3.50
Geelong Cats	1.31	1.30	1.31	1.30	1.31	1.32

Preview:

Round 19 of the AFL swings into action this weekend, with the first match between North Melbourne and Geelong on Friday night. Kicking off at 7.50pm at Etihad
Stadium, the Cats will be expected to win here against a struggling Kangaroos. North Melbourne have a shocker of a record against the Cats, having lost eight of their
past nine matches. While the Kangaroos will be keen for revenge after their last loss in round two, with the season they’ve been having, this looks unlikely.

Teams:

North Melbourne Kangaroos:
2 Brad McKenzie (INT)
3 Ryan Bastinac
5 Ben Jacobs (INT)
6 Lachlan Hansen
7 Jack Ziebell
8 Daniel Wells
10 Ben Cunnington
12 Lindsay Thomas
13 Leigh Adams (INT)
15 Luke Delaney
16 Scott D. Thompson
18 Shaun Atley
19 Sam Wright (EMG)
20 Drew Petrie
22 Todd Goldstein
24 Levi Greenwood (EMG)
25 Robbie Tarrant
26 Taylor Hine
29 Brent Harvey
31 Cameron Delaney
34 Jamie Macmillan (INT)
35 Aaron Black
38 Majak Daw (EMG)
41 Aaron Mullett
43 Sam Gibson

In: Luke Delaney ,Ben Jacobs
Out: Nathan Grima (Back), Andrew Swallow (Achilles)

Geelong Cats:

1 Mitch Brown (EMG)
2 Billie Smedts (INT)
3 Jimmy Bartel
4 Andrew Mackie
5 Travis Varcoe
7 Harry Taylor
8 Josh Hunt
9 James Kelly (INT)
11 Joel Corey
12 Trent West
13 Tom Lonergan
14 Joel Selwood
19 Taylor Hunt (INT)
20 Steve Johnson
22 Mitch Duncan
23 Josh Caddy
26 Tom Hawkins
27 Mathew Stokes
29 Cameron Guthrie
30 Nathan Vardy
32 Steven Motlop
33 George Horlin-Smith (EMG)
34 Josh Walker (EMG)
44 Corey Enright
46 Mark Blicavs (INT)

In: Josh Hunt ,Jimmy Bartel ,Trent West ,Mark Blicavs
Out: James Podsiadly (Suspension), Dawson Simpson (Knee), Mitch Brown (Omitted), George Horlin-Smith (Omitted)

AFL ruck depth a strength for Geelong

Geelong’s stockpile of big men has paid off big-time this year.

But coach Chris Scott says it doesn’t mean the Cats’ decision to load up on ruckmen is necessarily a move that that would – or should – be followed by their AFL rivals.

Dawson Simpson’s luckless run continued in Saturday night’s drubbing of St Kilda, the 206cm giant going down with what was almost certainly a season-ending knee injury.

In Simpson’s absence, Nathan Vardy – who has also endured far more than his share of injuries in an AFL career limited to 14 games – stepped into the ruck breach with aplomb in the 101-point drubbing of the Saints.

Scott believes the mobile Vardy offers the Cats at least as much as a key forward option as he does as a ruckman.

After being rested last weekend, former steeplechaser Mark Blicavs – whose remarkable improvement has been one of the stories of 2013 – is likely to return in Simpson’s place against North Melbourne on Friday night.

Rookie-listed Josh Walker and 2011 premiership ruckmen Trent West are also in the mix, although former North Melbourne star Hamish McIntosh remains a long shot to see any action in 2013 after battling a string of knee and ankle problems.

A similar litany of injuries to ruckmen would have cruelled the hopes of most other AFL clubs.

But not the Cats.

“Every club is different,” Scott said on Tuesday.

“The decision we made was largely on the back of the uncertainty we had around Dawson with his back and Nathan Vardy with a serious hip injury.

“And we didn’t really envisage Mark Blicavs developing to the point where he’s a capable AFL ruckman.

“There were extenuating circumstances towards having so many ruckmen on our list and we look back now and say that was probably a good decision, but I think it’s a little arrogant to say we’ve proved to the competition that that’s the right way to go.”

Defender Josh Hunt will return from a shin injury against the Kangaroos on Friday night, while forward Allen Christensen is in contention for a senior recall after missing three weeks with a hamstring complaint.