So, North Melbourne have a wooden spoon for the first time since 1972. And everyone will react differently, but mine is a world apart from 2017 and 2020 where finishing bottom was a live possibility at the start of the last round.
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Sunday evening marked the first time North had played an opponent twice at the same venue under David Noble, making it another important step in the process of learning about the team.
For the game which marked the halfway point of 2021, a focus on three topics – Bailey Scott’s role, Tom Campbell v Tristan Xerri, and what the forward setup could (or should) look like down the road.
How do you defend against fast play? That was the task which confronted North Melbourne on Sunday, and one they ultimately failed on route to a 72-point loss against Essendon.
It’s fair to say coach David Noble is firmly in experimental mode, and will be for some time yet. On Sunday we saw the newest lever pulled.
Where to start? The short version is all the negative parts of the first two weeks coalesced into an unstoppable snowball. The long version … well. Here we go.
Given North Melbourne’s current status, it’s too simplistic to look at weekends as win = good, loss = bad.
How things can change for North Melbourne in the space of three weeks.
Sometimes there’ll be games with plenty happening both on and off the ball. On other occasions – Sunday night for instance – it’s all quite simple.
In comparing Round 2 to Round 3, North Melbourne received a valuable learning experience of what happens when not executing the system which can serve it so well.
The Shinboner 