Fresh off last week’s exhilarating win, the Northern Blues will be looking to capitlaise on their solid start to the season when they host Frankston at Visy Park on Saturday afternoon.

Confidence should be no issue for Northern having fought back from 37 points to snatch victory over the highly fancied Williamstown in Round 1, as they again return to their home fort.

While form judgment remains difficult at this time of the year, both sides will be looking for the victory in the upcoming encounter for different reasons, given their respective starts to the season.

A host of changes to the Carlton AFL side sees the VFL Seniors take somewhat of a new look for the upcoming fixture, with an abundance of Carlton listed players named, including the likes of Jarrad Waite and Jeff Garlett featuring in Northern colours.

The two sides have already met in 2014 in a practice match that saw Frankston victorious over the Blues by 44 points, back in February.

It would be a part of the same pre-season campaign that saw the Blues come away with only the one win from six games, with Saturday afternoon providing an opportunity to go two from two in the regular season.

Almost two months on, Northern come up against a Frankston side left to rue missed opportunities in front of goal, and out to make amends after their 20-point home loss to Sandringham in Round 1.

Frankston - who led by five points at the last change - managed just 11 goals from 32 scoring shots in blustery conditions at the Frankston Oval.

Prolific Dolphins ball winner Shane Hockey will also be a key point of address for Luke Webster’s side after his best afield performance last week: a midfield group spearheaded by Brock McLean will be looking to negate his influence throughout the afternoon.

However, the key figure in the last match-up won’t be featuring: Sam Lloyd (since drafted to Richmond) kicked five goals in the last encounter.

Frankston still have the prospect of Kahn Haretuku looming as a difficult matchup for the Northern Blues defence; the big full forward kicked six goals at Preston City Oval in the corresponding fixture 

Along with the headline acts of Waite and Garlett, Saturday provides a further opportunity for Carlton recruit Sam Docherty to continue his life as a Blues after an injury-riddled pre-season. 

Meanwhile, Carlton’s Irish recruit Ciaran ‘Casey’ Byrne will again play for the Northern Blues Development side, as he looks to build match fitness and form, following his exciting three-goal performance last weekend.

The Development match commences at 11:30am at Visy Park on Saturday, with the VFL Seniors to follow at 2:30pm

Northern Blues Player Watch

Jarrad Waite: Carlton’s big loss to Essendon last week saw senior coach Mick Malthouse make a number of changes to the side for the game against Melbourne. Veteran Jarrad Waite finds himself at the Northern Blues this week: he will be looking for a big performance up forward in order to stake his claim for an immediate senior recall.

Joel Wilkinson: The vice-captain made his debut last week and will be looking to re-create the thrill of last week’s victory. Wilkinson was one of the side’s chief ball winners last weekend and one of many to step up in the last quarter when his side needed to. In his second match in Northern Blues colours, Wilkinson is in line to captain the side in Brent Bransgrove’s absence.

Tom Temay: Temay comes off a very impressive performance last week, where he finished as the Blues’ major goal kicker with four majors. Starting to find his niche as a forward, the Blues third-round recruit of the 2012 Draft mixes opportunistic goal-kicking with ruthless forward 50 pressure.

Northern Blues Selected Side

B Giles Watson McInnes 
HB Bootsma Anthony Sheehan 
C Holman McLean Docherty 
HF Temay Waite B. Johnson 
F Graham White Garlett 
R Wood Bell Armfield 
I/C Wilson Wilkinson Reynolds Coulson Cattapan* Totevski
* Indicates 23^rd man
** Carlton carry-over emergency to be determined