Formed: 1869 (as North Melbourne)

Joined AFL: 1925

Premierships: Four - 1975, 1977, 1996, 1999. Last finals appearance: 2005, Elimination Final

2006 at a glance: The Kangaroos went into 2006 looking to repeat their somewhat surprising finals appearance of the previous season. They started well enough, upsetting Port Adelaide by 41 points, but from there things went awry, with Dean Laidley's team winning only two of their opening 11 games. While Nathan Thompson was a shining light with 54 goals, it was an ultimately disappointing year for the Roos, who finished 7-15 and in 14th spot.

2007 to date: Jonathan Hay's retirement was the first of a number of hiccups the Kangaroos were forced to endure before a ball was bounced to start the2007 season proper. Even though the Roos made the semi-finals of the NAB Cup (eventually being bundled out by Carlton in an extraordinary match at Carrara), a season-ending knee injury to Thompson and a media exchange of words between Laidley and club great Wayne Carey made for bigger news.

With that in mind, the home-and-away season looked set to start on a high note when the Kangaroos led Collingwood by 25 points at three-quarter time of their round one clash at the MCG. But the Pies conjured a miraculous victory and things have got steadily worse at Arden Street from there, with a round two defeat to Port Adelaide followed by a round three loss at the hands of Hawthorn. Against the Hawks, the Roos led for the first half but, minus Thompson, were founding wanting in the tall forward department.

The coach: Dean Laidley was known as the Junkyard Dog when he played for the Kangaroos and West Coast and he'll need all his survival instincts to help turn around a season that has started most unfortunately. A dour, brave and committed player, Laidley displays many of the same traits as a coach but hasn't been helped by having taken over a Roos side that was ageing and coming off an enormously successful decade. Considering that, his 41 win, 47 loss and one draw record over four completed seasons is admirable.

Missing in action: The biggest names here are Nathan Thompson and, most likely, Glenn Archer.

Archer missed last week with a foot injury and seems a 50/50 prospect, at best, to play on Saturday night. Ex-Hawk Thompson finished second in the Roos' fairest-and-best last year and his 54 goals were 32 more than was managed by any of his teammates and made up 22 per cent of the team's total majors - the highest mark at the club since John Longmire notched 26 per cent in 1991. Thompson's absence was highly noticeable in last week's loss to Hawthorn, when the Kangaroos frequently kicked the ball long to the top of the square but struggled to find marking options.

The gun: At 172cm and 76kg, Brent Harvey hardly has the body of the prototype modern footballer. But there are few more consistent players. Harvey, who turns 29 next month and has 219 games to his name, finished in the top-10 in the AFL for disposals in 2006 and was the Roos' best-and-fairest the year before. A two-time All-Australian, Harvey has been named among his side's best players in all three outings in 2007 and remains a reliable goalkicking option with nine majors, including hauls of four and three.

The bolter: Drew Petrie isn't exactly a new name, having entered the season with 106 games under his belt. But Petrie's current guise as a steady centre-half-back would be almost unrecognisable to those who remember his first five seasons as something of an erratic key forward. This weekend, the 24-year-old is likely to be faced with his greatest challenge of the year to date - the Lions' monster centre half-forward Jonathan Brown.Petrie is yet to have his colours lowered in 2007, but is he good enough to curb the influence of truly elite forward like Brown?

Strengths: If there is one department in which the Kangaroos can regularly test their opponents, it is with their mid-sized running players. There seems to be a never-ending supply of them at Arden Street - Shannon Grant, Daniel Harris, Harvey, Brady Rawlings, Adam Simpson, Jess Sinclair and Daniel Wells, to name but a few. Wells, in particular, is capable of explosive and occasionally gravity-defying feats and needs only more consistency to become a true top-liner. One common thread here is experience. Of the names mentioned above, only Harris and Wells have played fewer than 100 games, with Simpson, Harvey and Grant all sitting at 200-plus.

Weaknesses: Who is going to kick the goals? It's an amazingly simple question but probably one that is causing Laidley more than a few sleepless nights.

Thompson kicked 54 last season but is out for the year. Ditto for Leigh Harding (22 goals), while Saverio Rocca (20) is busy punting in North America. Given the Roos only managed 249 goals as a team in 2006, the "missing" goals - 96 in total - leave quite a hole. Corey Jones is a versatile and capable forward but at only 188cm can't really be expected to be a key position player. The Kangaroos will probably be forced to rely on Grant, Harvey, Sinclair and Wells for additional scoring, but that's a lot to ask of a midfield unit that is probably overworked already.

The Queensland factor: No shortage of Sunshine State influence on the Roos - appropriate seeing as Carrara has become their home away from home. Broadbeach product David Hale is now firmly entrenched in Laidley's first 22 and can play both in the ruck and at centre half-forward. Southport's Brad Moran, likewise, is capable of filling a number of positions with his 200cm, 104kg frame and was a Rising Star nominees in 2006. And then there's Daniel Pratt, who has been a fixture in the Kangaroos' defence since being drafted from the Lions' rookie list in 2004.

Gavin Urquhart (Morningside) and Ben Warren (Zillmere) are Queensland under 18 representatives taken in last year's National Draft.