Fourteenth placed Fremantle face 17th placed North Melbourne on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.

Read up on the key stats and stories heading into the clash.

Favourable for Fyfe
Freo captain Nat Fyfe tends to play his best footy against North Melbourne. In round eight of the 2015 season, Fyfe polled three votes with 35 disposals and 11 clearances. In round four of the 2016 season, Fyfe again polled three Brownlow votes, racking up 15 contested possessions, taking four contested marks and kicking four goals.
Fyfe could again be up for the top votes from round five against North earlier this year at Domain Stadium, racking up 19 contested possessions, eight clearances and kicked one goal.

Big outs…
The most crucial out for Freo is ruckman Aaron Sandilands, who picked up a season ending hamstring injury against St Kilda in round 15. Sandilands amassed 55 hitouts against North in round five - his highest total for 2017 and 29 more than the entire North Melbourne side.
The Kangaroos are also licking their wounds. Jamie Macmillan, who picked up 26 disposals and took five marks against Freo in round five, has been ruled out with a finger injury sustained last week against Gold Coast.
Additionally, forward Jarrad Waite will again miss the Freo clash. Waite has played eight games this season and has kicked seven goals over the past fortnight, including four in North’s losing effort over Gold Coast. 

Big ins?
Connor Blakely is an almost certainty to return after being omitted against St Kilda for failing to meet team standards, while star midfielder Stephen Hill remains likely after one week on the sidelines with a calf injury.
On North Melbourne’s side, midfielder Ben Cunnington is set to return from suspension. Cunnington led North with 29 disposals, with 14 of those contested, against Fremantle in round five. 

Etihad examination
This is Fremantle’s first trip to Ethiad Stadium in 2017 - a ground which hasn’t been kind to Freo in recent years. Freo has won one game from seven clashes against North Melbourne at Etihad, and hasn’t wont at the ground since round 19 victory 2015 against St Kilda. Since that game, Fremantle has lost their following four games at Ethiad, with two of those losses coming at the hands of North Melbourne.

Darcy’s big test
Amassing 73 hitouts against Geelong and St Kilda, Freo youngster Sean Darcy holds the AFL record for the most hitouts after two AFL games.
Darcy’s average hitouts of 36.5 per game places the 19-year-old seventh for ruckmen this year. The injured Sandilands leads the competition with an average of 41.1 hitouts from his 10 appearances.
North’s Todd Goldstein poses as a big test for Darcy - although the ruckman’s 2017 numbers are down on his impressive 2015 season, where the Kangaroo finished 10th in the Brownlow and was named All Australian.
In 2017, Goldstein is averaging 33.2 hitouts per game with 10.4 to advantage, compared to his 2015 numbers of 44.1 hitouts per game and 14.1 to advantage.

Will Freo’s match-winner return?
Shane Kersten, who snapped Freo’s winner against North Melbourne in round five, remains a chance to return to the side after the suspension of fellow ley forward Cam McCarthy.
Kerstern performed well in his first WAFL appearance for Peel against Claremont last Saturday, especially considering the wet and muddy conditions at Rushton Park. The 24-year-old kicked 2.1 with limited opportunities in a low scoring contest, finishing the game as Peel’s lone multiple goal-kicker.
Other possible inclusions are forward Matt Taberner and ruckman Jon Griffin, who could share the forward role with fellow ruckman Darcy.

Youth competing for spots
Fremantle’s young defenders have given senior coach Ross Lyon a selection headache this week. After 20-year-old Ryan Nyhuis put his hand up to debut with an impressive 30 disposals at half-back on Saturday for Peel, 22-year-old Ethan Hughes put up career best numbers in the same position for Freo, collecting 30 disposals and taking 14 marks.