North Melbourne’s Predicted Round 1 line-up: Cunnington in the middle, Phillips makes the cut

North Melbourne claimed another wooden spoon in 2022 but there is an air of optimism at Arden Street with new coach Alastair Clarkson and strong bill of health with some exciting talent back for 2023.

Author: Isaac Cullen @isaaccullen_18

Leading that list is veteran onballer Ben Cunnington, who only played two games last year after being diagnosed with cancer, while former AFL Draft third pick Will Phillips is fully fit in pre-season after two years dogged by injury and illness.

Early 2022 Draft picks Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw add more excitement for Kangas’ fans, plus Jy Simpkin and Luke Davies-Uniacke both continued their growth in 2022 and can be elite mids in 2023.

North fan Isaac Cullen offered up his insights into the club he loves with his predicted Round 1 line-up.

Defence

Defence almost picks itself unless Clarko would want to play Aaron Hall under an injury cloud over Jack Ziebell (which I doubt). The other five are pretty easy selections. Given that list, you’d think Ziebell will take kick-ins with Luke McDonald while Hall is unavailable.

Midfield

Bailey Scott should hold one wing and I think Tom Powell will be in a wing/fifth onballer rotation. I love Powell as a player and think he will be a strong contender to break out this year. Word out of North is that Ben Cunnington is wanted around the contest, so expect to start in the middle.

If we see the consistency which we saw from Luke Davies-Uniacke in the back half of last year then there is no reason he can’t be a viable premo option this year. With his contested numbers if he can continue to be even more consistent then he’ll be a steal at his price.

Forwards

Forwards are also pretty easy to pick. Excited to see what this young forward line can produce this season. Harry Sheezel is someone I probably wouldn’t touch in SuperCoach due to his inflated rookie price and his high half forward graveyard role. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if he has some big games. Cameron Zurhaar is set to rotate through the mids a bit this year.

Bench

Stiff – Josh Goater and Blake Drury would be my next two selected and are probably stiff not to get picked. Darcy Tucker also on the brink but due to injury cloud have decided to leave him out

Curtis Taylor‘s calf injury probably keeps him out but if healthy I would pick him over probably Liam Shiels although that’s a tough one.

Jaidyn Stephenson also misses out, while George Wardlaw won’t play early as he’s in a six-week reconditioning block right now. Hall is also working his way back from an Achilles issue. Tarryn Thomas‘ off-field issues mean he’ll be out indefinitely.