v's
Sunday, September 7 (MCG, Night)
v's
North Melbourne 3.4 6.9 8.10 11.13 (79) Geelong 2.4 5.6 6.7 9.7 (61)
Goals
Nth Melb: Carey 7, Allison 3, Crocker
Geelong: Lynch 2, King, Riccardi, Mansfield, Pickering, McKinnon, Hocking, Milburn
Wayne Carey, in his 100th match as captain, confirmed his status as the best player in the AFL. In difficult and wet conditions, Carey kicked 7 goals straight - beating opponents of the calibre of Graham and Stoneham. And Carey still does not have full flexibility in his reconstructed shoulder. During the pre-match warmup Carey had a minor scare when he painfully overstretched the shoulder - but this was not enough to stop him on the night. Carey took 10 marks, had 20 kicks and kicked 7 goals, and set up at least 3 others. His presence led an inspired North team to an 18 point win. North was simply too agressive and hard at the ball all night. When heavy rain started at halftime North long-kicking efficient style of football was better suited to the conditions. Geelong relied on a short kicking, possession game, which was difficult to execute in slippery conditions, and under North's relentless pressure.
North won every quarter of the game. Geelong struggled to find a consistent forward target - and had 8 different goalkickers. Geelong missed Derek Hall, and when Paul Lynch left with a hamstring injury, Geelong was always going to struggle to kick a winning score. North successfully controlled Geelong's midfield - Chandler was superb in blanketing Hocking, as was Scott against Riccardi. Pickering and Stevens came out even, and Kilpatrick was also well held. Longmire battled against the taller King in the ruck, and did a good job. Allison managed 2 early goals, and kicked the sealer in the last term. North's defence was also superb - with Archer, Pike and Martyn dominating. Ronnie Burns and Jason Snell had no influence on the match.
The coaching strategies were interesting to watch. Geelong chose to use Barnes on a wing, and Pagan placed Roberts or McKernan on him. Barnes tried to drift forward, but was kept quiet. The kickouts saw both teams using an extended zone defence, allowing the opposition a short kick, but having players protecting zoning up to 90 metres from goal. Geelong's use of Graham's long kicking saw him as the designated clearance kicker. North employed two back pockets at the kickout, rather than a fullback on the mark. This saw Geelong kicking short, then handballing back to Graham for a long kick with two players chasing him down. North's forward structure was to use Carey at centre-half-forward from the opening bounce. He has played well in the backline this season, but showed how damaging a forward he is on the night. Allison was in the goalsquare, and Sholl the other leading forward. McKernan tried to work his way forward, but got caught in the midfield with Barnes and King. Corey still does not look fit, but his presence on the ground has an uplifting effect on the team, and also forces the oppposition to use a tall defender on him.
Apart from Carey's complete dominance, the real driving force behind the win was the fleet of Bell, Rock, Stevens, Chandler and Scott. North won the contested ball ("hard balls" or "pack situations" to some) 27 to Geelong's 8. North leads the competition in winning the contested ball - and had several training drills employing pack-smashing techniques.
Archer's report for tripping Hocking lead to Geelong's only goal of the third term. Just before halftime Geelong had a set-shot for goal from 35 metres but missed. A goal would have left the Cats just 4 points down at the half. Instead they trailed by 9, which was a considerable margin considering the heavy rain. For the first 10 minutes of the third term Geelong dominated, but managed just one goal. They moved to within 3 points, and had the ball in their forward 50 m arc for most of that time. It took a Carey goal to turn the tide, and when North goaled again the game looked out of Geelong's reach. North goaled first in the final term, and moved to a 24 point lead. But a shocking umpiring decision against Longmire gave Geelong a gift goal, and when former-Roo Pickering snapped truly the lead was just 12 points with 6 minutes of play remaining. Geelong having beaten North twice this season with late comebacks moved forward dangerously, but a Glenn Archer mark under pressure steadied the ship for North.