Suburban pride goes on the line when the Northern Blues travel down Bell St to meet Coburg at Piranha Park on Queen’s Birthday Monday.

Sitting at 12th and 13th respectively, the Blues and the Lions will view their 151st meeting as one at a crossroads. Both sides have just won the two games so far in 2015.

Against a classy Box Hill side, two extended lapses cost a competitive Blues side who took it up to arguably the competition’s best midfield group, with wins in contested possession and clearances.

However, the loss was their third in a row after capitulations against North Ballarat and Essendon the previous two weeks; games the Blues would’ve felt were winnable.

Contrastingly, the Lions have had little cheer about in the past fortnight, crashing to Williamstown (78 points) and Collingwood (39 points). It follows an impressive start to the year, notching wins against Richmond and Frankston in just their second year as a standalone club.

The Lions boast a hard-working midfield group led by captain Nick Carnell, while classy midfielders Daniel Venditti and Ozgur Uysal have continued on from solid 2014 form.

What Coburg lost with run from defence in the form of Gold Coast Suns rookie Adam Saad, they made up for with the recruitment of ex-Northern Blue, Keenan Posar.

2014 VFL Team of the Year full forward Lech Featherstone was the thorn in the Blues’ side last season when the two sides met; the key tall pivotal in the Lions upsetting Northern at home at Preston with three goals.

He has been curtailed this year to just eight goals from five games, with Kristian Jaksch or Tom Fields the likely match-up.

Midfield brigade David Ellard, Bradley Walsh and Mark Whiley will look to build on their impressive display against the Hawks last week. They will be with American recruit Alexander Aurrichio in place of the elevated Matthew Kreuzer.

Omitted Carlton defender Chris Yarran will be keen to make amends, and should enjoy freedom off half-back and through the midfield.

Forwards Blaine Johnson and Matthew Watson shared eight shots on goal between them for just three majors last week, and will be determined to make good on the scoreboard.

The match will commence at 2pm.

Northern Blues player watch:

Chris Yarran: Dropped for not adhering to club standards, Yarran has the perfect opportunity to respond. Likely to spend time in the midfield - with Piranha Park’s small parameters - he could be a dangerous threat if allowed space in the front half.

Mark Whiley: With confirmation of Chris Judd’s season over, all eyes will be on the next midfielder to take his place. Whiley collected 22 possessions, nine clearances and seven tackles directly opposed to quality Hawthorn-listed players last week. Another breakout game could see him knocking on the door of the Carlton match committee.

Nick Holman: Claimed another scalp in the form of reigning J.J. Liston Trophy winner, Alex Woodward, keeping the Hawk to just 17 possessions last week. A tackling machine, averaging seven per match in 2015. Could spend time on Venditti or Uysal on Monday.

Northern Blues' team to take on Coburg:

BOLD = Carlton-listed players