Round 2, Peter Jackson VFL
Port Melbourne vs. Northern Blues
North Port Oval, Port Melbourne
Saturday, April 25 2015

LAST FIVE

Port Melbourne: 5
Northern Blues: 0

LAST TIME THEY MET

Northern Blues 9. 6. (60) defeated by Port Melbourne 18. 17. (125) – Round 19, 2014 at Preston City Oval

PREVIEW

The Northern Blues will be looking to register their first win of 2015 on Anzac Day, coming up against Port Melbourne at North Port Oval on Saturday.

The Blues will set out to atone for a devastating one-point loss to rivals Williamstown in Round 1 against a Port outfit which has had their measure in recent times.

Northern has yet to come away with the four points against the Borough since adopting the ‘Northern Blues’ name - its last victory coming back in 2010, in what will also be the Blues’ first Anzac Day game in five years.

Fourteen AFL-listed players have been named for the Blues to feature on Saturday, while Sam Cattapan, Joel Wilkinson and Tim Totevski are among the seven inclusions into the extended squad, covering the AFL elevations of Jason Tutt, Dylan Buckley and Blaine Boekhorst, while Mark Whiley will miss out with hamstring tightness.

With the four among the Blues’ better players last week, they’ll have their work cut out for them against a Port Melbourne side which will be raring to go in its first game of the new season.

Having been one of the consistently superior sides in the competition for the past number of years, Port will be looking to build on a positive pre-season where it won three of its four matches.

The Borough were hit with a mass exodus of veteran experience including John Baird, Sam Pleming, Marcus Marigliani, Adrian Bonaddio, Marcus Davies, Shane Valenti, David Fanning, Julian Rowe and Dan Connors.

In their place, three ex-AFL listed players and a smattering of VFL experience headlined the off-season acquisitions for Port, with Jordan Lisle (ex-Brisbane Lions) and Kane Haretuku (Frankston) two recruits who promise to have a big say in Port’s fortunes.

The two in particular are sure to ask questions of Northern’s defence led by Tom Fields, who was adjudged his side’s best player by the coaches last week against Williamstown.

Last time the two sides met, Port Melbourne came away from Preston City Oval a comfortable 65-point winner, in a game which also doubled as Matthew Kreuzer’s return from injury.

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Northern Blues' Round 2 squad to take on Port Melbourne*:

*Team subject to Carlton-listed players not playing against St Kilda in Wellington.
**Denotes 23rd man.
BOLD = Carlton-listed player.