Australian Football League R8 North Melbourne Kangaroos Vs Adelaide Crows 5/15 0510EST

The Adelaide Crows last week departed the train wreck that was the first six rounds of the season to record their first win in 2010 as they took out Richmond by a scoreboard flattering 50 points. An 8 goal final term was their saving grace which almost resigned the Tigers to the wooden spoon. Contrastingly, the Kangaroos saw themselves on the end of a 66 point thumping from Collingwood.

The Crows have won on the previous eight successive occasions against the Kangaroos. However, the Roos will be buoyed by what has been an encouraging month of football. A loss to the Crows here would just about spell the death of their 2010 season whilst the Kangaroos are looking to hang around the top eight with a victory.

Averaging 4 tackles a game and kicking 3 last week against Collingwood, Kangaroo's Lindsay Thomas will be looking to evade Adelaide's midfield defence, especially if Johncock has a down game. Adelaide forward Kurt Tippett also played his best game of the season last weekend; the imposing Queenslander managed just one goal in the opening four rounds, but booted 4.3 against Richmond to take his tally to 10 goals in the past three weeks. Tippett loves the Etihad Stadium surface and will only get better as the team does.

Have the Crows really turned their season around? They will have to replicate their fourth quarter performance against Richmond last week if they are to make a statement in this game. How will the Roos respond? Skipper Brent Harvey told his charges not to drop their heads following the hefty loss to Collingwood, but it might be easier said than done for the young, developing team. For some, the fence might be the best place to sit on this one. Adelaide played just 30 minutes of decent football to get over the line against the Tigers, but that’s unlikely to be enough to topple North Melbourne.

To summarize, with the exception of blow-out losses to top-four fancies Collingwood and St Kilda, the Roos have proved to be tough opponents this season and will punish the Crows if they can’t compete for four quarters. My loot for this game wil be going on the Adelaide Crows +10.5 (currently at -108 at Betfair) for 2 units.






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