The Look Ahead will be the staple pre-season content piece, setting a tone for all 18 teams. The plan is to use them as a scene setter for team trends and individuals. In other words, don’t expect predictions, expect topics to be introduced – from both a list build and on-field perspective.
With West Coast starting us off earlier today, it means North Melbourne are next on the list as the series continues in reverse ladder order.
Player contracts
Although there are currently 20 names out of contract at the end of 2024, six stand out to me. For various reasons:
Kallan Dawson, Bigoa Nyuon, Toby Pink: For the sake of North’s list build, one of these three really need to pop enough to be considered a best 22 defender. If, at the end of the year, all three are farewelled with minimum fuss, the key back stocks will be extremely thin.
Cam Zurhaar: What teams – North or others – decide for Zurhaar’s value will be fascinating. His peak is game-changing, and now with added capability for burst midfield minutes. Conversely – and to be fair, this is partly out of his control because of team performance – he’s capable of long stretches without influence.
Tom Powell, Will Phillips: Regular readers will know I’ve been driving the Tom Powell Bus since extremely early on. Game 2, to be exact. Meanwhile, Will Phillips has been such a strong topic of discussion among the fan base I dedicated a whole piece to him.
One (or ideally, both) needs to pop, make a first-string midfield rotation spot their own and lock down their long-term future. Now’s the time.
List demographics
It’s a young, inexperienced list. Only two players have played 100+ in blue and white (Luke McDonald, Jy Simpkin, plus Zurhaar on 99), with much of the experience coming from those who have played those games elsewhere.
While the younger brigade are sorting themselves out, with undoubted talent, it’s still too early to ask them to carry a team week in, week out. Plenty falls on the shoulders of those experienced few to lead the way – not to mention the coaches to maintain spirits when there’s inevitable tough stretches.
Create your own North Melbourne Depth Chart
Changes in personnel
In
From other clubs: Zac Fisher, Bigoa Nyuon, Dylan Stephens
National Draft: Wil Dawson, Zane Duursma, Taylor Goad, Riley Hardeman, Colby McKercher
Rookie Draft: Finnbar Maley
Other: Toby Pink
Out: Aiden Bonar, Ben Cunnington, Jacob Edwards, Todd Goldstein, Aaron Hall, Daniel Howe, Jack Mahony, Ben McKay, Flynn Perez, Phoenix Spicer, Kayne Turner, Lachie Young, Jack Ziebell
What should be their strength?
The midfield, pending injuries, should win a couple of games entirely themselves.
In the second half of 2023 my aim was to track the budding rotations as they sorted themselves out, but then everyone started dropping like flies and the experiment was aborted.
Now, with an extra batch of draftees at the club and the capability for even more rotation, it’s back on the agenda.
Hypothetically, North should be able to build a midfield rotation for nearly any situation. While the final form of that is still years away, there’s no reason we shouldn’t see the start of that unfold in 2024.
With Luke Davies-Uniacke as the fulcrum, there should be scenarios where experience can be brought in for certain situations. Or if North need to chase a game, their most explosive midfielders – perhaps a Davies-Uniacke, Wardlaw, Zurhaar combination for a few minutes. Maybe a game needs saving, in which case the best defensive midfielders come into calculations.
The combinations go on and on and on. But alongside that strength there are also plenty of things to fix.
What should be their biggest priority to fix?
With a large caveat of the senior coach taking time off to deal with issues I’m not qualified to discuss, North’s general ball use and offensive philosophy was … spotty, at best throughout 2023.
Other personnel-related issues simply won’t be fixed in 2024 – unless players can grow 10 centimetres or put on 10 kilograms at the click of a finger.
But showing the start of how North intend to move the ball when they’re competing in September should be well within reach, and a watch point throughout the year.
What is success for North Melbourne in 2024?
After 12 wins and a draw in the last four years, it’s fair to say there’s a little impatience. Mistakes under previous regimes are still being felt and the consequence is progress pushed back.
Saying success is ‘a year without any drama’ may read as an attempted joke. In all seriousness it’d provide the base for proper individual development that hasn’t been able to happen for any uninterrupted length of time over the last few years.
From a win-loss point of view, six to eight wins would be a clear tick. Meanwhile from a structural point of view, sorting out midfield rotations amongst a big group, unveiling a small forward, and implementing the beginnings of a fluent offensive structure would be my top three realistic wishes.
It’s not the smallest of lists.