North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson says he would rather face a red-hot Carlton coming off 10 wins than the current beleaguered Blues with their backs to the wall.
The Kangaroos (2-1) will head into the Good Friday clash at Marvel Stadium believing they can claim a third win from four matches against Carlton, who threw away a 43-point lead in their loss to Melbourne.
That result has thrown Carlton (1-2) into fresh turmoil and piled pressure on coach Michael Voss — days after North handled an under-fire Essendon.
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“These are proud clubs, proud men, backs to the wall,” Clarkson said.
“They’ll be at their most dangerous rather than get them at a good time.
“I’d probably rather they’ve won 10 on the trot and won them all by 10 goals than face them when they’re trying to rebound from a game where they would think they should have had that game wrapped up just after half-time.
“So we know we’re in for a fierce contest, but it’s not really about Carlton.”
The Blues have proved vulnerable in second halves but Clarkson is wary of a response.
“The stats suggest they’ve been poor in second halves — but I don’t think that’s a reflection of what’s going to happen on a consistent basis with Carlton,” Clarkson said.
“I just see a proud footy club, a proud coach and a group of guys that are trying their darndest to get themselves into the contest for as long into the game as they possibly can.”
North will be without ruckman Tristan Xerri, who is serving a three-match serious misconduct suspension for wiping blood on the face of Essendon captain Andrew McGrath.
Clarkson flagged youngster Taylor Goad and veteran Jack Darling as options to support Callum Coleman-Jones in the ruck.
Like captain Nick Larkey, the coach will encourage Xerri to maintain his aggression — to a point.
“If we take that away from him, it takes away his most significant strength — but having said that, you’ve got to play within the rules of the game as much as you possibly can,” Clarkson said.
“But if you run close to that white line, you’re going to transgress from time to time, and just hope that either one, you get away with it, or two, your transgression is not severe enough to warrant a penalty
“He’s a great competitor for us and we’re not going to ask him to change his ways in that regard.
“We might ask him to change his ways in the aftermath of things when he is pretty hot under the collar for something. But his teammates can assist him with that too.”
