THE FIRST of today’s AFL Women’s Preliminary Finals is going to be a scorcher, as North Melbourne and Port Adelaide battle it out in the blistering mid-afternoon heat for the opportunity to progress to next weekend’s AFLW Grand Final.

3:05pm AEDT
Ikon Park

How they got here

North Melbourne won through to this stage with a week one victory over Adelaide, and are coming off a week’s rest. Port Adelaide meanwhile has had to do it the hard way, and finds itself in its first ever AFLW Preliminary Final after a spirited win over Hawthorn last week.

Last time they met

Last time these two sides met was actually earlier this season, back in Week 4. In awful conditions of a very different variety to what they will face today, North Melbourne emerged with a six-goal win after keeping the Power goalless in the first half.

Key stat areas

It really is a daunting task in front of the Power today. Many of the stats are rather lopsided in North’s favour, including in areas such as disposals, disposal efficiency and inside 50 efficiency, so Port need to find a way to defy the stats and get the win.

One of Port’s big weaknesses is in the uncontested possession game, which is something it will have to keep an eye on as North are really good at exploiting that.

Interestingly though, the stats around hitouts and clearances are pretty even between the pair. Port has the advantage in centre clearances, while the Roos are better when it comes to stoppage clearances, and with Port’s hitout advantage, it could be an avenue to exploit.

Key match up/s

Emma Kearney is a very welcome return for North Melbourne today, after missing a number of weeks via injury. Her return is very well timed too, as she will need to combine with the likes of Libby Birch to take down an imposing Port Adelaide forwardline, with the likes of Ashleigh Saint and Gemma Houghton potentially very dangerous if given the freedom to do so.