Whether North Melbourne land a hole-in-one against Carlton or shank their tee shot into the trees, their performance will say something about their mental strength.
Embattled coach Brad Scott used golf as an example to help explain the mental battle that awaits his underperforming players when they take on the Blues in a crucial clash at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
Both clubs are looking to improve on dire 1-5 records, but the Kangaroos are widely considered the more disappointing of the pair given pre-season expectations.
With the potential of another week in the eye of the media storm, North have more to lose than just the premiership points.
Scott is urging his players to remain brave and not become paralysed by the fear of losing.
"Strong of mind, loose in body ... it's very easy to tense up and try too hard at times," Scott said.
"We see that in all sorts of sports but probably golf is the one that stands out the most.
"Once you tense up you're not going to hit the ball consistently well and that's a bit the same for us.
"We've got to stay incredibly strong in the mind and make sure that we're not worried about making mistakes.
"We've got to go out and accept that mistakes are going to happen but also keep playing to our system."
Off-season recruit Aaron Hall has been dropped for the clash, while Shaun Higgins returns from a virus that forced him out of last week's loss to Port Adelaide.
Marley Williams, Taylor Garner, Jy Simpkin and Tom Campbell were also included in the line-up that will be trimmed to 22 players on Friday.
The Blues lost Kade Simpson, Mitch McGovern, Nic Newman and Matthew Kreuzer to injury, with young star Charlie Curnow among the inclusions.
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