North Melbourne is one of five clubs battling for Essendon’s place in the final eight. To qualify, the Roos need Carlton and Brisbane to lose on Saturday before overcoming Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.
It puts a whole new spin on Collingwood’s own preparation for September but ensures that the Pies will enjoy the perfect tune up for the first week of the finals.
Match Details
Collingwood v North Melbourne
Round 23
Sunday 1 September 2013
MCG
Start time
Local: 3.20pm
EST: 3.20pm
CST: 2.50pm
WST: 1.20pm
Head-to-Head
Collingwood: 102
North Melbourne: 49
Drawn: 2
Past Five
Round 1 2013
Collingwood 15.13 (103)
North Melbourne 13.9 (87)
Goals – Collingwood: Cloke 4, Sidebottom 3, Goldsack 2, Lynch 2, Macaffer, Blair, Pendlebury, Swan
North Melbourne: Thomas 4, Hansen 2, Cunnington, Petrie, Tarrant, Mullett, Bastinac, Gibson, Goldstein
Disposals – Collingwood: Swan 31, Pendlebury 30, O’Brien 24, Sidebottom 21, Cloke 18, Maxwell 18, J.Thomas 18
North Melbourne: Swallow 34, Wells 25, Cunnington 23, Mullett 22, Bastinac 19, Firrito 19, Thompson 19, Ziebell 19
At Etihad Stadium
Round 21 2012
Collingwood 8.13 (61)
North Melbourne 13.13 (91)
Goals – Collingwood: Beams 2, Didak, Fasolo, Tarrant, Sinclair, Blair, Pendlebury
North Melbourne: Petrie 3, Tarrant 3, Thomas 3, Hansen 2, Ziebell, Garlett
Disposals – Collingwood: Beams 38, D.Thomas 27, Sidebottom 26, Pendlebury 24, Blair 20
North Melbourne: Harvey 33, Gibson 28, Bastinac 25, Cunnington 24, Swallow 24
Brownlow: 3. S.Thompson (NM), 2. D.Beams (Coll), 1. T.Goldstein (NM)
At Etihad Stadium
Round 16 2011
Collingwood 22.15 (147)
North Melbourne 3.12 (30)
Goals – Collingwood: Sidebottom 4, Blair 3, D.Thomas 3, L.Brown 3, Swan 2, Cloke 2, Jolly, Wellingham, Shaw, Davis, Fasolo
North Melbourne: Harvey 2, Goldstein
Disposals – Collingwood: Swan 39, Pendlebury 29, D.Thomas 26, Shaw 25, Davis 22
North Melbourne: Wells 29, Ziebell 27, Rawlings 23, Swallow 23, Bastinac 17
Brownlow: 3. D.Swan (Coll), 2. L.Davis (Coll), 1. S.Sidebottom (Coll)
At the MCG
Round 2 2011
Collingwood 21.17 (56)
North Melbourne 21.17 (143)
Goals – Collingwood: Cloke 5, Beams 3, Dawes 2, Didak 2, Blair 2, Sidebottom 2, Krakouer, Pendlebury, Swan, D.Thomas, Jolly
North Melbourne: Hansen 2, Thomas 2, Cunnington, Anthony, Goldstein
Disposals – Collingwood: Swan 40, Pendlebury 39, D.Thomas 28, Sidebottom 27, Beams 26, Dawes 26
North Melbourne: Harvey 27, Rawlings 27, Adams 24, Grima 24, Wells 24
Brownlow: 3. D.Swan (Coll), 2. S.Pendlebury (Coll), 1. H.O’Brien (Coll)
At Etihad Stadium
Round 7 2010
Collingwood 23.19 (157)
North Melbourne 14.7 (91)
Goals – Collingwood: Sidebottom 5, Medhurst 3, Dawes 2, Jolly 2, Didak 2, Davis 2, Johnson, Toovey, Shaw, O’Bree, Cloke, Wood, D.Thomas
North Melbourne: Thomas 3, Edwards 2, Hale 2, Wells 2, Warren 2, Harvey, Swallow, Garlett
Disposals – Collingwood: Swan 38, Shaw 33, Didak 29, D.Thomas 29, Ball 28
North Melbourne: Rawlings 33, Harvey 32, Adams 25, Swallow 24, Anthony 23
Brownlow: 3. A.Didak (Coll), 2. D.Swan (Coll), 1. S.Sidebottom (Coll)
At the MCG
Stats and figures
- Collingwood has enjoyed some remarkable success in front of goals against North Melbourne in recent years. The Magpies have kicked over 100 points in five of their last six meetings. In comparison, the Roos have never scored more than 91 points. You have to go back to round 16, 2008 to find a game in which the Kangas kicked more than 100 points against the Magpies. In fact, they’ve only done so three times since round six, 2000, something the Magpies have done 10 times.
- The two clubs have met in the final round of the season on 14 occasions. Collingwood has won 11 of these encounters including the past five. They have never met in round 23.
- The last time the Magpies faced North in the final round of the home and away season was in round 22, 2006. On an overcast afternoon at the MCG, the Pies were sluggish early and looked in danger of heading into the finals with a loss when it led by only eight points at half time. They eventually clicked into gear, kicking 10 goals in the final quarter to run out 68-point victors in Sav Rocca’s final game of league football before heading off to pursue a career in American Football.
- Many probably forget that current North Melbourne Brad Scott spent almost three years as an assistant to Mick Malthouse at Collingwood. Scott is one of the men credited with helping formulate a plan to use the interchange bench more effectively in the lead up to the 2007 finals series in which the Magpies came within a kick of the Grand Final.
- Although North Melbourne ruled the football world in the 1990s, they often found the lowly Magpies difficult to overcome. Collingwood didn’t make the finals between 1996 and 1999 (a period in which the Roos won two flags and lost another) but it fared well when pitted against Wayne Carey and his teammates. The Pies won three consecutive games between 1996-1997 and came within 13 points after leading by two goals at three quarter time in round 21, 1999. It was during this period that coach Tony Shaw would send Nathan Buckley to centre half back to combat Carey, a move that regularly produced good results.
Swan watch
It has seemingly escaped the public’s attention all season, but Dane Swan could still be in the running for the Brownlow Medal – or at least a place in the top four or five. His recent history against North Melbourne suggests that he will be one of the men who catches the umpire’s eyes. In his past five games against the Roos, Swan has averaged 36.2 disposals and has never dipped below 31. He polled nine votes in four games against them between 2009 and 2011 including two best on grounds in 2011. It should come as no surprise that he was an absentee in Collingwood’s only loss to North in the past five years (round 21 last year).
Injury List
Collingwood
Luke Ball (calf tightness) – test
Dayne Beams (back tightness) – test
Jamie Elliott (hamstring) – test
Ben Sinclair (shoulder) – test
Clinton Young (hamstring) – test
Marty Clarke (ankle) – season
Alex Fasolo (foot) – season
Corey Gault (groin) – season
Michael Hartley (shoulder) – season
Dale Thomas (ankle) – indefinite
Alan Toovey (knee) – season
North Melbourne
Leigh Adams (knee) – available
Robbie Tarrant (nose) – available
Dan Currie (nose) – available
Taylor Hine (ankle) – test
Scott Thompson (bruised lung) – 1-2 weeks
Tom Curran (foot) – season
Majak Daw (knee) – season
Cameron Delaney (toe/knee) – season
Nathan Grima (foot) – season
Andrew Swallow (achillies) – season
Max Warren (collarbone) – season
Mason Wood (knee) – season
