North Melbourne Season Review

[BB67th]

Hi everyone, my next installement in my series of reviews of all the AFL clubs today with North Melbourne going under the microscope. If you like it, make sure you get onto my blog, leave a comment and give the article a 5 star rating at the bottom of the page  :)

North Melbourne Season Review

Season in a Snapshot

Ladder Position: 8th â€" 14 wins, 8 losses (112.49%) â€" Knocked out in Elimination Finals
Most Disposals: Andrew Swallow (563)
Most Goals: Drew Petire (57)
Played Every Game: Andrew Swallow, Drew Petire, Jamie MacMillan, Brent Harvey, Kieran Harper, Michael Firrito, Ryan Bastinac, Shaun Atley
Debutants: Brad McKenzie (2 games), Cameron Delaney (5 games), Sam Gibson (13 games)

Stat Leaders:

Kicks: Daniel Wells (282)
Handballs: Andrew Swallow (302)
Tackles: Andrew Swallow (160)
Hit Outs: Todd Goldstein (639)
Clearances: Andrew Swallow (150)
Marks: Drew Petrie (142)
Contested Possessions: Andrew Swallow (278)
Uncontested Possessions: Ryan Bastinac (370)
Inside 50s: Daniel Wells (94)
Rebound 50s: Scott Thompson (69)

Best & Fairest:

COUNT YET TO BE HELD

North Melbourne are the only club that hasn’t held their Best and Fairest yet, but I think it will be the skipper Andrew Swallow that wins it quite easily. Daniel Wells, Brent Harvey, Scott Thompson and Drew Petrie should all poll quite well too.

NAB Rising Star Nominations:

NONE

How did the Season go:

It was an interesting season for North Melbourne, and one that was full of improvement. Coach Brad Scott was under the pump to provide results, after missing finals in 2010 and 2011. There was a change in the captaincy, with Brent Harvey stepping down to allow Andrew Swallow to become the head man. The season started in a thriller for the Kangaroos, with Hamish McIntosh missing a shot after the siren to give the Bombers a 2 point win. They backed this up with a 129 point win over GWS in a great display. They looked on fire when they beat Geelong the next week in a high scoring affair. They came back down to Earth with a defeat at the hands of the Swans. After beating the Suns in round 5, they endured a lean trot of form, with close defeats to West Coast, the Bulldogs and Port Adelaide. The Bulldogs and Port losses were poor, with the Kangaroos leading into the last quarter by a sizable margin against the Power, before giving it up at the end. They almost did the same thing the next week against the Lions, but they just held on. A heavy loss to Hawthorn took them to 4 wins and 6 losses heading into the bye, and facing a bottom 10 position on the ladder again. They came out after their bye in a shaky fashion, beating Gold Coast by only 7 points. They got into some good form with wins over the Crows and Saints. They went into a game in Tasmania against the Eagles full of confidence, and it was only some Dean Cox magic in the last quarter that denied them the 4 points. They came out firing to make the final 8 after that, winning their next 6 games, including good wins against the Blues, Bombers, and best of all, a 5 goal win over Collingwood, in which Drew Petrie dominated. A loss to Freo, but a win over GWS saw them finish 8th on the ladder and face West Coast in the Elimination Final. Travelling over to Patersons Stadium, they were very disappointing in the effort that they put up, as they were beaten in all aspects of the game and slumped to a 96 points loss.
There was strong improvement from the whole team this year from North Melbourne, and in the second half of the season, they were near impossible to beat. They were moving the ball quick, and playing a game where they handballed a lot to clear the ball, before kicking it long to pump it into the forward line. This was a tactic widely used by the Brisbane Lions back in the early 00’s, and Brad Scott, who was a part of that team, has now implemented that with the Kangaroos. Drew Petrie was probably the team’s most important player, and at times he dominated up forward, and was unlucky to miss out on his second All Australian selection this year as a key forward/ backup ruckman. Lachie Hansen and Robbie Tarrant also spent time down there in the second half of the year and were very strong. The team was well balanced this year, and they just ran out of steam at the end of the year and couldn’t make a strong finals bid.

Excitement of the Season:

North Melbourne uncovered a star when they drafted mature age recruit Sam Gibson as a rookie. After averaging 28 possessions with VFL team Box Hill Hawks and winning their best and fairest last year, the Kangaroos took a punt on the 26 year old. He got his chance after the bye, when he was called up for the Kangaroos round 12 clash against the Suns. He played well in that game, where he picked up 18 touches, and hasn’t been out of the team since. He had some great games, where he was hard in the midfield and was always in there trying to get the clearance. He had a big impact in the middle, and his hard body was one of the reasons for the Kangaroos improvement in the second half of the year. His best game came against GWS in round 23, where he picked up 32 touches, 13 marks and a goal. He has won a spot on the senior list for his efforts and will be upgraded during the National Draft.

Disappointment of the Season:

The Kangaroos had a good season and their only real disappointment came from Hamish McIntosh. He again spent most of the season injured, or out of the side, behind Todd Goldstein in the pecking order. After being injured last season, and Goldstein enjoying a breakout year, there were questions at the start of the year whether they could both player in the same team, as Drew Petrie was already used as a pinch hitting ruckman. They all played in the first half dozen games for the season, before McIntosh was dropped. He showed good form at VFL level, and returned to play in the senior team, but injured his ACL joint, and required a full knee reconstruction. A player that has so much ability and skill, hasn’t been able to make his mark on the game for really the last 2 years and as a result, he was traded by North Melbourne at the end of the season to Geelong where he can get more opportunities to play.

Where is the club heading next year:

Based on this years improvement, things are looking up for the Kangaroos and if they can start to sustain their form, they will be looking like a very dangerous team to come up against, look only at their 5 goal win over Collingwood to see why. They haven’t been busy at all in the trade and free agency periods, with only Hamish McIntosh leaving the club in return for pick 36 in the national draft. Their midfield improved a lot this year, and with it being so young, expect it do so more over the next couple of years. They have a great bunch of youth in the likes of Bastinac, MacMillan, Gibson and Atley, which goes well with the experience from Swallow, Wells and Harvey, who has just signed on to keep playing into next year. I think that if they can get some good consistency going in the team they are a real finals contender next year and have a chance to go a decent way. Brad Scott will want to start producing some real results with his side soon though, as his team at the Kangaroos must be starting to run out. I think around 14 wins and a 5th-7th spot on the ladder would be a pass mark for North Melbourne next year, if they keep improving as they did this year.

Final Say:

North Melbourne had a shaky start to the year, but really came good after the bye, where they produced some great wins. They were always going to struggle going into finals for the first time in a few years and were blown out of the water by the Eagles in the Elimination Final. Still, they showed a lot of signs of improvement this year and they became a hard team to beat by the end of the year. I give North Melbourne a B for season 2012.

[roo boys!]

Very nice article BB, I like it.

Just a couple of little things with the games results, we lost to Ess by 2 not 4 and we were behind for pretty much the whole game against the Dogs in round 7 (not that that's something to be proud of :P), didn't give up a 3 QTR time lead like against the Power and Eagles.

But that's just me being picky, really good job!

[BB67th]

Thanks RB there is always a few mistakes in these, so it's good to get someone to point them out.

[ossie85]

Great read, seems pretty accurate.

No idea why North are taking so long for the B&F

Honestly though, the 'disappointment of the season' has to go to that dismal finals effort. Ended the year on an incredible sour note and you have to question the hunger (which is weird given how young they are).

[roo boys!]

Great read, seems pretty accurate.

No idea why North are taking so long for the B&F

Honestly though, the 'disappointment of the season' has to go to that dismal finals effort. Ended the year on an incredible sour note and you have to question the hunger (which is weird given how young they are).

Still a while away too, November 14th. I'm not entirely sure either but oh well.