Richmond assistant coach Andrew McQualter provides ‘Roar Vision’ with a snapshot of the main attributes of North Melbourne’s game ahead of this Saturday night’s clash under the Etihad Stadium roof.
Key match-up: Nankervis v Goldstein
“I think he (Goldstein) plays over 90 percent game time, which is a huge number for a ruckman. It’s going to be a challenge for Toby, but both are great ruckmen in really good form. Toby’s greatest strength is probably his ability to leave the contest and his running ability and being able to get involved in the play . . . It’s going to be a big challenge for both of those guys.”
Good midfield balance (Ziebell, Cunnington, Higgins and co.)
“Ziebell and Cunnington are bulls inside the contest, so we know that we’re going to have a big challenge trying to match them inside the contest. And Higgins has the ability to do both – inside and outside. He plays a bit of forward, a bit of ‘mid’. They’ve got a lot of good midfielders, but the beauty of him is his ability to be really offensive and get the ball on the outside more. He’s a good player and we might have some plans for him . . . It’s going to be a really big challenge for us around the coal-face, but also on the outside.”
Quick, direct ball movement
“Their key defenders (Tarrant, Thompson and Hansen) are so important for them. They mark the ball really well and then, as the stats suggest, they (overall, as a team) take it pretty straight . . . lots of hands (handball) through the corridor. They’re a good team. They’re a strong offensive team, and they’ve been scoring well the last month, so we’re going to have to be really good defensively.”
Importance of forcing the ball to ground in our forward half
“We have that challenge every week because we’re obviously shorter in our forward line.”
Key forwards Brown and Waite
“Brown probably plays as their deepest forward. That gives him the space to come at the footy, rather than over the back, and he jumps at the ball really well. Whoever gets the job on him will have a big challenge . . . Waite’s getting better with age. We know he can be a real barometer for them and score goals quickly. So it’s going to be a big challenge for all of our backline.”
