The final step of North Melbourne’s preseason meant one more chance to collect intel ahead of a winnable season opener.

The afternoon started with so much promise.

In recent weeks, posts have usually focused on big-picture takeaways and items to build on in the future. Today’s a little bit different because it’s purely about single-game decisions.

Two weeks ago, I delved deep into my worries with North Melbourne's ball movement. Against Melbourne, there appeared to be a few adjustments and the results looked much better to the eye.

In the absence of Jy Simpkin, Jason Horne-Francis, and Hugh Greenwood, it was a different looking North Melbourne midfield on Saturday.

As a teenager, I spent plenty of winter Saturday afternoons at Vermont Reserve, watching the Eagles kick goal after goal and notch win after win.

What a difficult game to form a conclusive opinion on.

Today’s post is going to focus on a common theme in this matchup, but so rarely do we get two complete opposite quarters to illustrate several key points.

There is a hell of a lot to talk about today, thankfully much more positive than last week.