ELIMINATE — to remove or take out. And that's the way it will be this evening for Sydney or North Melbourne.

For Sydney, a loss would be accepted, as the passing of time has supposedly reduced the effectiveness of this bold warrior. For North Melbourne a loss would be shattering, as the Roos captured the imagination with a recent six-game winning streak and they have promised to make amends for capitulations against Geelong and Port Adelaide in last year's finals.

Too many Roos grumble that they aren't given a fair go in the football world. Well tonight's the night. A win over a respected opponent on its patch will bring credibility. A loss means the Roos are no better than "good ordinary".

Question marks hover over the heads of plenty of Kangaroos. Coach Dean Laidley is desperate to be judged a top-line coach. He is a fighter who has proven himself an astute planner when assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. In six seasons, however, the wins outweigh the losses by just two, and a loss tonight would bring his finals record to four losses in five games.

The coach got on the front foot early in the week to accuse the Swans of "tunnelling". Do they? I don't think so. But I do think the Kangaroos coach is leaving no stone unturned, as he knows a loss will draw heat.

For Daniel Wells, tonight could well be a career-defining game. He is a special talent but also a grave concern. If he gets closely tagged, and he is likely to, he must show the courage and resolve to run until his heart is about to burst. If he closes up shop, stops running and accepts the tag, as he did last week when Port Adelaide's Kane Cornes hounded him, then you have to think he will never reach the heights most of us hoped he would.

Wells needs to be told that reputations can be made in the hurly-burly of finals football. A likely opponent for Wells could be the experienced and hard-tackling Jared Crouch.

While no one doubts the talents and efforts of this year's best-performed Kangaroo, Brent Harvey, the small man with the big heart, will be keen to turn it on. He knows the significance of September and what a premiership means. He will be desperate to enhance his reputation, as will skipper Adam Simpson and half-forward Shannon Grant. Those three shared a flag nine years ago and fully realise that time is running out for another one. We can expect Kieren Jack to wear Harvey like a glove tonight.

Up forward, Laidley has rolled the dice with the inclusion of big men Nathan Thompson and Aaron Edwards. Both have missed a lot of games through injury. Both have been in ordinary form and both have a history of not performing well in finals. On the big ANZ Stadium arena, they desperately need to hold their marks, because at ground level they run the risk of having the ball swept away. The key up forward for North is David Hale, who is marking everything that comes his way, and the two fierce-tackling crumbers, Lindsay Thomas and Matt Campbell.

The two little fellows have 32 goals apiece for the season, while Hale has 35 — 15 of which have been kicked in the past three weeks.

Over the past month, Adam Goodes and Ryan O'Keefe have played hurt, and Barry Hall has played angry. Goodes and O'Keefe, after a week off, will return. All three need to be controlled by the North defence. Shannon Watt has the tank to run all night with O'Keefe. Michael Firrito has played on Hall in the past and won't be intimidated if Barry becomes unsociable. And Josh Gibson has the speed and spoiling technique to make life difficult for Goodes.

The dash-from-defence responsibilities will fall on Daniel Pratt, who has had a fine season. Pratt is a real dasher with a touch of mongrel. He leads the competition with defensive rebounds and takes more marks and gathers more disposals than any other player in the Roo defence. Such are his talents that it would be no surprise to see Sydney coach Paul Roos sacrifice one of his own forwards by having him drag Pratt away from the action.

To end the season with three successive losses would be a bitter pill to swallow for North Melbourne. This year it has recaptured its identity and confirmed it will stay put in Melbourne. Lots of people have jumped on board to give support. Payback to the faithful on centre stage in west Sydney is what's required tonight.