Autopsy Autopsy v hawks

[Freomaniac]

It's half time

Just watched the 0-5 Hawks look like the Harlem Globetrotters for 35 minutes while we fingered ourselves for a bit. Let them pile on six goals in a row. It's not that the talent isn't on the list, it's that they don't seem to have the desire. Nor the will to stop a run on. Connor McDonald, Cam McKenzie, blokes you dead set wouldn't pick out of a line up, are running amok.

Barlow went over to Duursma and patted him on the shoulder at half time. McKercher looks completely lost outside of his glorious run and bounce when he gave Weddle windburn. I just want to go to the footy and not hate that I'm there. I want to see something that makes me want to come back next week. And instead I see nobody on the goal line for Moore's goal. I see Corr and Biggie pointing at each other after another uncontested mark in the F50. I see McDonald, instead of pinpointing a dangerous kick up the wing, turn sideways and backwards, dump it to Sheezel and then immediately run off instead of providing another option. I see Comben trying to bite off one of the all time kicks across goal to Stephens, turning it over, only for Stephens to do the exact same thing five minutes later and gifting a goal to the Hawks.

There's a bloke sitting next to me - Hawks fan - who I am certain has been convicted of a crime against someone at some stage. He had a shot at McDonald in the second quarter when Luke ran to the bench. "that's your best position McDonald". I felt like asking him if he thought anyone wearing North colours disagreed but didn't feel like getting my head punched in.

I think everyone forward of the ball gets a pass today because we couldn't ******* kick it to them without any semblance of structure. Zurhaar's banana in the second quarter absolutely reeked of a plane ticket to WA.

Libby Birch has worked harder as the ground announcer than anyone paid to play footy today.

We deserve literally everything that gets thrown at us this week by the media, if we don't somehow pull something out of our arses in the second half. This is pathetic. I hate being here.

I agree with all your bolded and underlined bits.

1. There is some talent in that North Melbourne list. Definately in that midfield. I watched the derby last night. Horrible. West coast belted freo. Dockers were arrogant and thought rocking up was enough to win. Eagles were motivated. Yes North are 0-6 but they shouldnt be this bad. Go look back at the Dean Laidley coaching era from 2003-9. Then look at the Brad Scott coaching era of 2010-19. Sure there have been a few C grade or D grade players in those sides, but they worked hard and fought hard for the club cause. There is talent there. As I Said, Tom Powell is my favourite North player.


2. I agree. You want something to want to come back to watch North next week. The only 2 reasons I would rock up each week as a North fan would be 1. the young kids in the midfield and 2. Nick Larkey kicking goals. Think of the Demons fans back in the early 1980s under Ron Barassi. They were horrible but as long as Robbie Flower was playing they had some hope. Same with the saints fans in the 1980s when they were Terrible but had Tony Lockett Kicking goals.

3. I cant argue with that North fan. A rebuild North Melbourne is taking is always a tough path. Eventually, Law of averages say North will improve.

4. Ignore the media, they will always sink the boots into any struggling side. I have Seen worse defeats at North. At least North kicked 10 goals vs the hawks. That game vs the cats vs Geelong when they kicked 9.13.67 to Norths 1.8.14 was a much worse loss. Thank you Todd Goldstein for that set shot goal.

As bad as things are, things will turn around. You know that!

 

[Danni_Benson]

Just realised I'm working next weekend.

Might be a god send.

Lucky you.

 

[DesertRoo]

Hawks had three small forwards carving us up on scoreboard and applying defensive pressure.
Three!
We haven't recruited one of those types since LT retired!
Opposition defences spoil Larkey and then gather the crumb and launch a scoring foray.
WTF are we doing in last management meetings? Playing UNO?

Strangest part about this, we’ve changed hands a few times and they’re still going down this pathway.
It’s insanity

 

[Rooniversity]

If I get an email from the club selling the match day jumper or any other merch this week, I'll spew up.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Larkey frustrated me immensely today.

He plays for frees CONSTANTLY because he's not strong enough to win a 1 on 1 and he cannot take a pack mark.

I know he kicked a huge haul of goals in 2023, and that's great. But he's not a #1 KPF. He's a really good #2 being forced to play as a #1 because he's all we've got.

He is a good 2 metre flanker but none of his play translates to key position player.

 

[DesertRoo]

If I get an email from the club selling the match day jumper or any other merch this week, I'll spew up.

Ask them if you can buy a gameday one on the cheap.
Unlikely to have sweat/blood or mud on it, still likely to be in plastic.

 

[scottywiper]

I don't disagree on your overall point but credit to Curtis, he has a crack at it.

He ain't a crumbing pressure forward tho

 

[Reginald0]

so looks like the 8 goal quarters are back
If Bergman and Hardeman and Archer are genuine defenders we have to play them over the next few weeks
Mckercher can go to the wing
We will never win while all the forwards choke on goal as Larkey Zurhaar and Curtis did
I have absolutely no idea why playing Biggie v Hawks mobile forwards was even remotely considered
I would play Sleevo thought Lazz showed a bit
When the other mob get going we can not close them down
Until we can get a team who can do that we are just gonna get thumped again and again
sausage time

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

I held off posting straight after the game. With no hint of exaggeration, getting Covid two days into my recent holiday overseas was more enjoyable than that 2nd quarter.

 

[koshari]

Hawks had three small forwards carving us up on scoreboard and applying defensive pressure.
Three!
We haven't recruited one of those types since LT retired!
Opposition defences spoil Larkey and then gather the crumb and launch a scoring foray.
WTF are we doing in last management meetings? Playing UNO?

Meanwhile saisage is being tried in defence in the ressies.

 

[Ball Dont Lie]

How can an esteemed coaching panel look at the magnets on the board and decided Eddie Ford is the one we should yank. I wonder which of Sellers 2 possessions impressed them enough to say, “no let’s persevere with him”.

 

[koshari]

He ain't a crumbing pressure forward tho

Neither is Hawkins but both have kicked 9 goals this season.

 

[footy2016]

3 wins in Melbourne with fans since end of 2019. Absolutely diabolical.

 

[gerry101101]

We are at that unfortunate point where instead of players having to bang down the door in the 2s to play seniors, we need to bring them in purely for structures sake.

We need someone to crumb in the forward line. Hansen Jr? I’m sure he’s a long way off it, but my god we were useless once the ball hit the ground up forward. It’s Hansen Jr or Boomer unretiring.

Similarly in the backline. McDonald out and archer in please.

Chom just stay back. Any wonder he gets injured up forward when our go-forward plan is to kick it 50m in the air directly above him and let big bodies defenders smash him? Oh and then he gets to chop out Xerri to mix things up. He’s the one success of this year to date - don’t fluck it up. Leave him back.

Cheesel on ball and used wherever possible for f50 entries.

McKercher and Scott on wing. And Scott never allowed to try and kick a ball off the ground ever again when picking it up is an option.



Give me a reason to take my 2 kids to the footy. They are almost lost to this side.

 

[scottywiper]

Neither is Hawkins but both have kicked 9 goals this season.

The point is we have criminally overlooked the role of small pressure forwards in this league. A trend every other club seems to have picked up on.

 

[Liam Boy]

Larkey frustrated me immensely today.

He plays for frees CONSTANTLY because he's not strong enough to win a 1 on 1 and he cannot take a pack mark.

I know he kicked a huge haul of goals in 2023, and that's great. But he's not a #1 KPF. He's a really good #2 being forced to play as a #1 because he's all we've got.

I think I agree. It's bad for morale when the guy who should be the leader there is sooking it up all the time, feels like it's rubbing off a bit on Curtis and Duursma

 

[Bowski]

Just got home from what was the first time this year I was able to attend live.

We are so much worse in person.

I'm sure this has all been addressed but just for my own catharsis. Here are my thoughts.

I could see some sort of structure early in the first, 'the web' or whatever you want to call it, and it seemed to have potential. Then the Hawks kicked a goal. That's all it took. 1 solitary goal and the whole house of cards came tumbling down. Rabble.

Fisher and Stephens are turnips, I had high hope for Fisher in particular and hope he can still show something.

Dyl Stephens reminds me of Ben McKinley

Ben Mckinley

Age

37

Ht

185cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.5

3star

G

1.9

5star

No current season stats available

D

8.4

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.2

3star

G

3.0

5star

from the Eagles, we were reliably told we "got one" here when in reality we have been rogered silly by a team stoked to lose him.

Biggie might just be the dumbest footballer I've seen in person. No understanding of space, filling the hole, or when to go. He calls for the ball every single time a team mate has it. His team mate could be 400m away from him or Biggie could have 3 hawks surrounding him, doesn't matter to him. He wants that pill.

Biggie was manned up on Blake Hardwick

15

Blake Hardwick

Age

27

Ht

183cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.8

4star

K

9.7

4star

HB

6.1

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

2.7

4star

MG

264.7

4star

D

13.8

3star

K

9.8

4star

HB

4.0

3star

M

3.2

3star

T

1.7

3star

MG

264.7

4star

D

15.0

4star

K

8.8

4star

HB

6.2

4star

M

5.0

5star

T

1.4

4star

for most of the game, and when I say 'manned up' I mean he's the bloke he would stand next to at centre bounces and then waltz off into no mans land with his great mate Lukey Mac. Oh I'll get to him

Corr had some touches, how nice for him. He is still a trainwreck of a footballer. Absolute disgrace and would drive me insane as a team mate with all his finger pointing.

At one point, the Hawks were streaming in and I saw McKercher was caught out 1 on 1 with Chol "oh no" I thought, "poor Colby has been caught in a mismatch, things must have gone wrong". Now thankfully the Hawks didn't go to Chol then. Hopefully that never happens again.

Cue the next centre bounce and McKercher is manning Chol! It is his man! Chol marks and goals! This was the first time I've questioned Clarko since he's walked in our doors. Brain Dead.

The next Clarko move that rattled my cage was throwing Comben forward. He was the only bloke looking competent down there and they fling him forward to no avail. After talking earlier in the season about "it being too easy to swing him forward, he trained a defender so he's a defender".

Watching our mids play is like shoveling water with a garden fork. A lot of work for zero gain. The amount of times that the centre clearance would go to North, only to inevitably be given right back to the Hawks and all our mids shatter their ankles trying to turn back the other way. Every single one is a front runner.

Sellars is being damaged being in the team right now, do him a mercy and let him get some touch in the twos. Persist with Phillips. Make Wardlaw play a game in the twos to dominate and then come back in. Staple Dawsons ankle back together.

Finally, I'm not going to call for Luke McDonald to be dropped, because I know he won't be. But he is endemic of where we are at as a footy team. He offers nothing, and on the rare occasion he does do something of a bare minimum standard (taking a mark or simply gaining a possession) he looks shocked and fluffs the follow up. Getting to Jon Hay levels of shit.

Watching LMac and Corr 'rally the troops' after each goal made me ill. Imagine being Comben or Sheez, players with genuine ability, being told how to play footy by these two shouting at you and then lovingly patting you on the arse.


All this being said, I'm with North, I'm with Clarko. But Jesus tap dancing Christ boys, show me something. Anything. Please.

 

[Rooniversity]

We used to always nab a goal in the goal square off a pack. Whether it was Allison, Wells, Bell, Harvey, Thomas... nowadays you just know the ball will be easily swept away.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

How can an esteemed coaching panel look at the magnets on the board and decided Eddie Ford is the one we should yank. I wonder which of Sellers 2 possessions impressed them enough to say, “no let’s persevere with him”.

They said on the telecast hip pointer.
Must have copped a knock at some point.

 

[Rooniversity]

I love North and will until the day I die, however at the moment we really just plain suck.

 

[Danni_Benson]

Hate to say it but outsourcing to shams like leading teams was the beginning of the slippery slope thats led to where we are now

I’m getting desperate……

Didn’t actually realise that.

 

[Only Forwards]

As bad as things are, things will turn around. You know that!

I’ve held fast to this for 3 seasons and we seem as far away now as we’ve ever been.

Our current average losing margin is 51 points.

We’re as bad now as we ever were under Noble.

Except now instead of having blokes like Ziebell or Goldy or Cunnington

We have McDonald, Simpkin and Corr.

All of which could or should have been dropped at points and none of whom have ever been big players in a quality side.

We’ve razed the list to the ground. We spent draft concessions of soft outside players and kids that are 5 years from anywhere.

It’s pretty f***ing grim being a North fan.

 

[ohmygewd]

if it was a boxing match l'd have it:
Q1 - 10 to 8 Hawks
Q2 - 10 to 0 Hawks
Q3 - 10 to 9 Hawks
Q4 - 10 to 7 Hawks and game was over.

Watching for the top deck behind the goal, l encourage very supporter to watch this team from there as it's plain as daylight just how bad our defensive positioning is, how many times our own players converge to the contest or fly 3 or 4 up leaving their opponents free, how much space they leave between the man they are defending or guarding, we make defensive switches that is too easy for the oppo to pick the mismatch and only once did you see a forward (Dury) behind the pack when the it inevitably spills past the pack but plenty of hawks defenders.
Biggie had a shocker, too much trying to chance his arm reading the play up front without thinking of his man or playing way too head of his man - either play defensive or ask the coaches to play you forward because that's what he looked like leaving your man.
Nick's got to stop looking for the free, yes there were some that he should have got but you're starting to get a rep of playing for the push out, he and the coaches need to decide if he plays around the 50 mark or lead from the goal square because he's not a lead out forward and rather plays going back to square.
Sellers, poor bloke, didn't have the confidence to demand the ball so he just lead when Larkey leads...in fact our forwards do a better job of spoiling each other than any defender.
Duursma needs to go to the VFL and get his touches and goals, been saying it for weeks, playing an 18yo in a role that our mids look to Larkey, Zuurhar and Ford is not giving him any confidence at all.
McKercher, has to play on the wings or , like Duursma, go to the VFL play in his natural position and get his touches - if we use this kid properly, he could be Judd like because his burst is a weapon.

At the end of this match, we can blame the players but this coaching team has to take the heat and must come up with a simple and defensive plan because a high press is not working and this is the 4th game in a row that we have conceded 70pts before 1/2 time and usually it's racked up in one quarter of football called the 2nd quarter.

Some poster in this thread said whose idea was it to build midfield out, well that was the plan from end of 2019 to 2022, 2023 was the first draft that we only took 1 mid and the rest KPP or med fwd or HBF.

All those calling for players to be dropped...an bring in who?

 

[Only Forwards]

They said on the telecast hip pointer.
Must have copped a knock at some point.

Was smashed in a contest in the first quarter took him some time to get up.

 

[koshari]

I’m getting desperate……

Didn’t actually realise that.

Yeah was thar period when that red headed flog ling was drawing a paycheck from the club.

I reckon a bit of frank costanzas brutal airing of greviances would suffice.