"If you want to see a finals-type game with high pressure, come along to this one on Friday night."
Those were the words of Nathan Buckley on Tuesday as Collingwood begun it’s preparations for a do-or-die round 18 clash with North Melbourne.
Two days later, the Magpies have named their side to take to Etihad Stadium and face the Kangaroos.
Alex Fasolo and Marley Williams return to the team, while Jordan De Goey and Brent Macaffer have been omitted.
For Williams, the recall to the senior side is a reward for strong VFL performances in trying conditions.
After being dropped from the senior team, the defender ventured to North Ballarat and Frankston in a bid to return to form.
“He’s deserved his spot back in the side,” Collingwood director of football Neil Balme told ‘Team Sheet’.
Meanwhile, Fasolo’s return to the side will be his second attempt to resume normal regime.
The livewire missed four weeks with a shoulder injury from rounds 11 to round 15, returned against Greater Western Sydney, before once again missing with injury last week.
He remains Collingwood’s leading goalkicker in 2016 and will prove an impressive addition to the team.
“Fas has come up pretty well after the shoulder (injury),” Balme said.
“He’s always going to be a good addition to the forward line.”
The Friday night match pits a reasonably in-form Collingwood outfit against a North Melbourne side which has lost five games in a row.
The Kangaroos hang on to eighth spot on the AFL ladder, and have already possessed their firepower in 2016 – winning nine straight games before stumbling over their first hurdle in round 10.
Brent Harvey will equal the North Melbourne games record on Friday night. The 38-year-old kicked two goals and had a team-high 29 disposals against Port Adelaide last weekend.
Unfortunately Macaffer nor De Goey will get the opportunity to pull on the boots at any level this weekend.
The VFL Magpies have a bye in round 16, meaning the pair will join the likes of Tyson Goldsack, Mason Cox, Adam Oxley and Alan Toovey on the sidelines.
ROUND 18
Collingwood v North Melbourne
Friday 22 July, 2016
Etihad Stadium
7.50pm
COLLINGWOOD TEAM
IN: Alex Fasolo, Marley Williams
OUT: Jordan De Goey (omit), Brent Macaffer (omit)
B: Jonathon Marsh, Nathan Brown, Jeremy Howe
HB: Taylor Adams, Ben Reid, Ben Sinclair
C: Steele Sidebottom, Adam Treloar, James Aish
HF: Alex Fasolo, Travis Cloke, Travis Varcoe
F: Darcy Moore, Jesse White, Jarryd Blair
Foll: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Jack Crisp
Int: Levi Greenwood, Marley Williams, Brayden Maynard, Josh Smith
Emg: Jordan De Goey, Tyson Goldsack, Mason Cox
NORTH MELBOURNE
IN: Trent Dumont, Majak Daw
OUT: Jarrad Waite (hip), Corey Wagner (omit)
B: Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito, Shaun Atley
HB: Brad McKenzie, Robbie Tarrant, Jamie Macmillan
C: Sam Gibson, Daniel Wells, Nick Dal Santo
HF: Jed Anderson, Ben Brown, Jack Ziebell
F: Lindsay Thomas, Drew Petrie, Brent Harvey
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Ben Cunnington, Andrew Swallow
Int: Ryan Clarke, Trent Dumont, Aaron Mullett, Majak Daw
Emg: Ed Vickers-Willis, Joel Tippett, Corey Wagner
