North Melbourne are looking for three wins in a row when they come up against Richmond, a team they have performed well against in recent times.
The Kangaroos have had an odd kind of year. They lost their first five games in a row, but have since won four out of five to sit at 4-6 for the year. The ironic thing is that they arguably played better footy at times during their losses than their wins – they pushed teams like Geelong and the Bulldogs all the way, but have only managed to scrap past lower-ranked opposition like Gold Coast and Carlton. The win over the Blues is their most recent result – they started like a house on fire, but then faded and let Carlton back into the game, only to stand tall and run out the winners.
Richmond also have had a lopsided season – they won their first five matches of the year, but then lost four in a row, including three by less than a goal. However, Tigers fans will be happy to tell you they got back into the winners’ circle last week, with a tidy if inaccurate win against Essendon. They’re at 6-4 as a result and now have a chance to build real momentum if they can get a win against the Roos – but to do so they’ll need to overcome recent history. Richmond have lost six of their last seven against North Melbourne, including a heartbreaker in the 2015 elimination final. Their only win in that time came the week prior, when Brad Scott famously rested a host of players to prepare for finals, gifting the Tigers an easy victory.
North Melbourne have made no changes to the side that defeated Carlton last week, the first time they’ve had no changes all year, and a sign that they’re happy with where they’re at.
Richmond have only one change, dropping Todd Elton to bring in the smaller Dan Butler.
So long as Richmond don’t get ahead of themselves, they should win this one, history be damned. This is a new breed of Tiger. Look at them to win by 1-39 points at $2.37.