North Melbourne 6.3 13.8 18.16 22.21 (153) Hawthorn 2.2 4.5 7.6 12.8 (80)
Goals
North Melbourne Carey 4, Roberts 3, Scott 2, McKernan 2, M Stevens 2, Anderson, A Stevens, Blakey, Bell, Armstrong,
Crocker, Allison, King, Simpson
Hawthorn Dunstall 6, Hargreaves 2, Gibson 2, R Taylor, Trevelen
Only one change to the team that whalloped Footscray last week - Dean Laidley out due to a bruised back, replaced by
Daniltchenko. Injuries this year at North has left regular players such as Longmire, Schwass, Capuano, Laidley and new
recruit Groom out. However several younger players have had the opportunity to step forward, and North maintained its
hold to first position on the AFL Ladder by defeating Hawthorn by 73 points.
North kicked with a strong wind in the first quarter, worth at least 3-4 goals. The first quarter saw North dominating both the
play and the scoreboard - strong opening quarters have been a trademark this year. Darren Crocker was starring up forward,
taking several marks, but unfortunately succumbed to a hamstring strain, and left the field not to return. McKernan continued
his dominance of the ruck, and Allison was lively when he came on the ground. Even though North lead 6.3 to 2.2, the wind
advantage meant that Hawthorn was not in as bad a situation as it first seemed.
However in the second quarter North kicked 7 goals to 2 - and that was against the wind. Carey absolutely blitzed in this
quarter, producing his best form for this season. He was well held by Langford in the opening quarter but cut loose. North
only had a 3 man forward line, and Mark Roberts played as a loose man in defence, acting as a "sweeper". Roberts was
instrumental in several plays, and often moved up the ground, offering another option. McKernan also drifted to
half-forward. North won this game in this quarter, and the game was virtually decided at half time.
North wasted several opportunities in the second half; wasteful kicking saw Hawthorn preventing an all out massacre.
Dunstall had the better of Martyn on the day, but fortunately for North he had few opportunities. Robert Scott did a good job
in tagging John Platten out of the game, and Anthony Stevens had 31 disposals. McKernan was best on ground again,
Roberts and Stevens would get my other votes for best on ground.
North should have Laidley and Capuano back next week, and hopefully Crocker will be fit. This leaves North with the
fortunate dilemma of having too many good players to select from! Perhaps not too much should be drawn from the fact that
North is on top of the ladder: indeed their opposition for the past 3 weeks has been sub-standard. However the next 3 weeks
sees North facing Brisbane, Adelaide and Geelong - and this will be the real test of how much North has improved over last
year.
Just a note to any Hawthorn supporters - Can your team count? On four occasions did Hawthorn infringe by having too many
men in the centre at the bounce. At one stage Hawthorn did this twice in a row. Hawthorn's concentration is definately
lacking, as is their committment.
Highlight - For North, I really enjoyed the tap out by McKernan, where he followed up his own tap and gathered, booting
the ball into the wind where Carey ran backwards to mark and goal. This was North's second goal into the wind (from
memory) and really put an end to any possibility of a Hawthorn comeback (even though it was only the second quarter).
Mark Roberts when fit, has an excellent football brain and goal sense. His work today was superb, and tactically Pagan used him either as an extra defender or forward. His size and mobility allows him to play ruck or ruck-rover, and also as a quicker player. North needs Roberts (and Crocker) both in the team and firing to really have a chance to cover the loss of Longmire and have a shot at going all the way this year.