The Northern Blues and Richmond will open proceedings on a big Sunday afternoon for all Bluebaggers and Tigers fans.

As part of a double-header between the two clubs, the Blues head to Punt Road Oval at midday for a crunch Round 10 VFL clash.

It’s a pivotal game for both clubs, as Richmond look to keep its recent run of form going while the Blues will be out to record their seventh win from nine games.

It also marks an opportunity but a tough test for the Blues in returning to the winners list, after narrowly falling short of Werribee last weekend.

The two sides last met at Punt Road in the home-and-away season three years ago, which Northern won: however, the two sides played at the venue in pre-season.

That match in 2014 at Punt Road was also the last time Northern has triumphed over Richmond during the season.

Following injuries last weekend, Northern has lost key ruckmen Andrew Phillips and Daniel Gorringe, meaning the returning Matthew Korcheck will take on the majority of the ruck burden against Richmond inclusion Ivan Soldo.

There’ll be a number of AFL-listed players on show, in what will provide a perfect pre-cursor to the AFL clash later that afternoon.

Northern will call on its leaders to step up following the disappointing result of last weekend, after being overrun in the middle two quarters by Werribee.

Young Carlton forwards Patrick Kerr and Harry McKay will again look to lead the line for Northern, accompanied by a raft of small forwards including the returning Liam Sumner.

At the other end of the ground, Northern’s back-line will have no shortage of questions asked of them, with Ben Lennon and small forward Tyson Stengle both in good goal-kicking form.

The game will be streamed live on the VFL website, with coverage available just before midday.

Alternatively, get down to Punt Road Oval and support the boys in Blue, with the game’s conclusion to provide ample time to get across to the MCG as Carlton take on Richmond.

The Northern Blues Development side will kick things off tomorrow when they head to North Port Oval to take on Port Melbourne from 11am.

MATCH DETAILS
Round 10 VFL
Richmond VFL vs. Northern Blues
Punt Road Oval
Sunday, June 25 — 12pm
Streamed live on VFL.com.au
Entry: $10 adults, $5 concession, Children under-15 free
Northern Blues members half-priced entry

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ciaran Sheehan: The defender has started to get some consistency in performances in recent weeks, named for his sixth consecutive game after an unlucky run with injury. Sheehan has been lauded in recent weeks by senior coach Josh Fraser for his ability to impact the contest defensively, and he’ll be a vital part of Northern’s defensive set-up with Richmond’s dangerous small forwards roaming around.

Rhys Palmer: Another Blue who had an interrupted start to the year, Palmer has hit his straps in recent weeks with a couple of big performances in the VFL. He hasn’t dropped below 20 disposals since Round 4, while he’s averaged a goal a game. Adjudged the team’s best player by his coaches last week, Palmer will have a big role to play rotating between the midfield and forward lines on Sunday.

Harry McKay: A big performance seems to be around the corner for the second-year Carlton forward, who is the only Northern Blue to kick a goal in every game he’s played so far this season. Inaccuracy plagued McKay late in the game last week, but he showed his potential to break the game open and will be hopeful of a similar individual performance to his game against Richmond in pre-season. On that day, McKay kicked four and looked to be Northern’s most likely forward target across four quarters.