North Melbourne 1.4 4.9 7.19 9.20 (74) Fremantle 3.5 6.6 7.7 8.10 (58)
Goals
North Melbourne Archer 2, Blakey, Anderson, Schwass, Simpson, Roberts, Dwyer, Stevens
Fremantle Chisholm 2, Callaghan 2, Muir, Kickett, Mann, Hunter
For the second week in a row North found conditions less than ideal. The WACA, usually hard and dry, was instead met with heavy rain which made conditions very difficult for all players. There was no real dominant player from either team, and both teams, particularly North were inaccurate in front of goal. There were few effective marks taken by either team.
Fremantle kicked the four of the first five goals, and North was 23 points behind midway through the second quarter. North managed to be within two goals at half time, despite having played poorly. After the half Glenn Archer provided a spark to kick 2 goals in the third quarter, as North regained the lead. North held this lead to eventually run out 16 point winners. A loss would have seen North drop to fourth. Sydney's win over Carlton means North has regained top position, but this is again up for grabs next week as North meets Carlton.
First Quarter
Fremantle goaled within the first few seconds of the match, with Chisholm kicking his first. Heavy rain made ball handling difficult, and the game resembled a rugby scrum. Fremantle kicked 2 goals in 2 minutes midway through the quarter, shooting to a 3 goal lead. Blakey brought up North's first at the 19 minute mark, with North being lucky to be only 13 points behind at the break
Goal Sequence: F (1 minute mark), F (16), F (17), N (19)
Second Quarter
Fremantle kicked the first two goals, and looked ready to skip away with the match. North, not having won interstate this year, looked to be putting in another shocker. Recent years have shown North to be strangely impotent in the forward line while interstate (eg in Adelaide last year, against West Coast several times). Up by 23 points, Fremantle was winning the play, but North managed to kick the next two. At the half North was 9 points behind, playing poorly, and both Carey and McKernan without a mark in the game!
Goal Sequence: F (5), F (7), N (10), N (15), F (20), N (23)
Third Quarter
North came out after the half with McKernan in the ruck. Capuano had not been performing well. Immediately North switched on, and kept the ball up forward. However this netted 5 straight behinds, before Stevens kicked a goal at the 8 minute mark. Archer, moved to the forward line, then fired, kicking 2 goals in 2 minutes and giving North the lead. Callaghan kicked Fremantle's only goal for the quarter. North kicked 3.10 to 1.1 and this meant the game was still up for grabs at three quarter time.
Goal Sequence: N (8), N (9), N (11), F (17)
Fourth Quarter
The value of the first goal could not be understated. Torrential rain continued to fall, so goals were going to be hard to get. After the first 8 minutes provided no goals, Schwass snapped a goal to virtually seal the game up. Kickett kicked a goal a minute later, but no team goaled for the next ten minutes. Simpson sealed the game for sure at the 20 minute mark with his snap.
Goal Sequence: N (8), F (10), N (20)
Archer again was probably the match winner, with his 2 goals in the third quarter to give North the lead. Blakey was a good performer, and both teams defences found the conditions to be in their advantage. McKernan's work around the ground was good, although the ruck work by both teams did not have a major effect on the game. Carey played most of the game at centre half back, on Peter Mann. In the end no player really had a large impact on the game, Chisholm and Burton did well for the Dockers. Pagan's coaching moves, especially the tactic to crowd the game, yet keep the North forward line open appeared to have worked well.
The conditions evened the differences between the two teams out. Carey and McKernan did not have the chance to take big marks. Few goals resulted from set shots at goal. North would be happy with the win, even though it was not an easy match. Next week could be the Grand Final preview, although the Swans are probably the in-form team in the competition at the moment.