Saturday second AFL Round 9 match is between North Melbourne Kangaroos and Brisbane Lions with the game to be played at Etihad Stadium. The opening bounce is set to commence at 4:40pm local time with home team North Melbourne Kangaroos currently holding favouritism. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between North Melbourne Kangaroos and Brisbane Lions.

Round: Round 9, Saturday May 17, 4:40pm
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Weather: 22° Mostly sunny.

Odds Comparison:

North Melbourne Kangaroos	1.08	1.07	1.06	1.07	1.08	1.08
Brisbane Lions	8.00	8.50	10.00	8.50	8.00	8.50

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

Preview:

North Melbourne play the Lions on Saturday, 4.40PM at Etihad Stadium.  While North will be big favourites to win here, Brisbane may still be competitive despite their appalling 1-7 record and last position on the ladder. The Roos have beaten three top-four contenders so far this year – Port Adelaide, Sydney Swans, and Fremantle – so the Lions should be a walk in the park for them, at least in theory.

Brisbane were very competitive against the Bombers last week, however, and have been playing a lot better than their record would suggest.  While it will be a major challenge for them to beat the Roos away from home, some analysts are giving them an outside chance against what is an erratic North Melbourne outfit.  With skipper Andrew Swallow back for the Roos, however, North Melbourne should have enough quality to take home the points.

Teams:

North Melbourne Kangaroos

B: Luke McDonald, Joel Tippett, Aaron Mullett
HB: Nick Dal Santo, Scott D. Thompson, Shaun Atley
C, Sam Gibson, Andrew Swallow, Leigh Adams
HF, Lindsay Thomas, Aaron Black, Brent Harvey
F, Majak Daw, Drew Petrie, Lachlan Hansen
Fol, Todd Goldstein, Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington
I/C, Ryan Bastinac, Sam Wright, Levi Greenwood, Robin Nahas
Emg, Brad McKenzie, Liam Anthony, Scott McMahon,
In, Andrew Swallow, Sam Wright, Robin Nahas,
Out, Nathan Grima (Foot), Michael Firrito (Omitted), Brad McKenzie (Omitted)

Brisbane Lions
Backs: Gardiner Clarke Patfull
Half-backs: Hanley Adcock Cutler
Centres: Paparone Redden Raines
Half-forwards: Rockliff Paine Taylor
Forwards: Green Merrett Brown
Followers: West Aish Zorko
Interchange: Beams Lisle Lester Golby
Emergencies: Crisp Robertson Close
In: Lisle Golby Beams
Out: Maguire (suspended) Mayes (concussion) Robertson

News:

Andrew Swallow’s return for North Melbourne this weekend is clearly giving Brisbane coach Justin Leppitsch food for thought.

The Kangaroos’ skipper will return to the AFL 295 days after rupturing his achilles in round 18 last year as North aim to get back to winning ways against the bottom-placed Lions.

Swallow feels it could take up to a month to get back to his best but Leppitsch isn’t expecting any rustiness from the 26-year-old.

“Adam Goodes did okay with his first game or two back, didn’t he?,” Leppitsch said.

“Sometimes, first game back, you’re at your freshest.

“It’s often as the grind hits you from a long-term injury (that you might struggle). We’ve got to treat it that he’s going to play the same way as he did when he left the game … which is a pretty high standard.”

So fearful of Swallow’s impact is Leppitsch, he admitted it’s likely the Lions will send out a tagger to spoil his return to action.

But he added the Kangaroos’ midfield is a tricky one to tie down with Brent Harvey, Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington and Nick Dal Santo also needing close attention.

“I think he’s a head-to-head match-up this week,” the Lions coach said of Swallow.

“That’s the challenge with good midfields … you’ve got some pretty good players in there. You’ve always got contingencies for that player that gets off the chain.

“Whether we need to activate those, that’ll happen throughout the game.”