Adelaide and North Melbourne have met 38 times. The Crows hold the overall advantage, 20 - 18.

The two teams last played at Adelaide Oval in Round One last year. On that occasion, the Crows ran out emphatic 77-point winners in front of 45,607 people on Easter Sunday.

Adelaide has won four of the last five matches between the two sides. Three of these past five clashes have been decided by fewer than 10 points.

In his first outing as captain, Taylor Walker booted 6.5 against the Roos in Round One, 2015, earning him the three Brownlow Medal votes. Richard Douglas collected a game-high 31 possessions to go with nine clearances and seven inside 50ms.

‘Tex’ was still four goals short of equalling Tony Modra’s haul of 10.1 against North Melbourne at Football Park in Round Eight, 1993 – the best-ever return by a Crow against the Roos.

Saturday night’s match will be Don Pyke’s first as Senior Coach of the Crows.

The Kangaroos are a strong stoppage team. North Melbourne had the second-best clearance differential in the 2016 NAB Challenge and ranked fourth overall in this area last year.

Strong-bodied midfielder Ben Cunnington finished third in the AFL for clearances last season, and fifth in contested possessions. Skipper Andrew Swallow laid the second-most tackles of any player in the competition in 2015.

The Roos, who have played in the past two Preliminary Finals, have an average of 93.9 games played – the most experienced team in the League. The Crows rank 11^th for experience, with an average of 62.5 games played.

Adelaide and North Melbourne haven’t played each other in Victoria since the ‘miracle at Etihad’ in Round Nine, 2013, when Jared Petrenko kicked a goal in the dying seconds to cap off a stunning Crows comeback in Indigenous Round.

The biggest crowd for a Crows v Kangaroos match was 94,431 at the MCG for the 1998 Grand Final.

If selected, trade period recruit Paul Seedsman will play his 50^th AFL game in what would be his first match for the Crows on Saturday night.

Adelaide’s highest-ever score against North Melbourne was 28.12 (180) at Football Park in Round 24, 1991.

Two of the best ruckmen in the competition will go head-to-head on Saturday night. Roo Todd Goldstein (first) and Crow Sam Jacobs (third) ranked top three in the AFL for average hit-outs to advantage in 2015. The pair was also in the top four for total disposals among ruckmen, with Jacobs (third) gathering 356 and Goldstein fourth overall with 352.

Goldstein will celebrate his 150^th AFL game against the Crows this weekend.

Inaugural skipper Chris McDermott holds the record for most possessions by a Crow in a game against the Kangaroos. McDermott racked up 44 touches at Football Park in Round Eight, 1993.