My Left Foote
Premiership Player
- Jan 27, 2020
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This is a good read, the TV show references are a bit odd but in true North Big Footy style our Captain's name is spelled incorrectly as Jai so bonus points for that.
July 8, 2024
North Melbourne beat Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon for their second win of the season.
They are now officially off the bottom of the AFL ladder, have played in two of the best games of the season (the win against Gold Coast and the narrow loss to Collingwood), and have been competitive since the bye. If I had to make a prediction based on the last five weeks since the bye, I would say that we have seen the last of North Melbourne, cellar dweller.
They are officially rising past rock bottom and promise to be more successful at it than Carmy in the latest season of The Bear. In charge of North Melbourne is Carmy-like figure, Alastair Clarkson. They are both equal parts tempestuous and talented, piloting a ship that looks like it could jump on a rocket or sink at any given moment. They are also both quite short.
More importantly, they have a list of non-negotiables. Clarko’s team is exercising his list of non-negotiables far more easily than Carmy’s chefs managed to create a new menu every day.
Since the bye in season 2024, the best patch of Clarko’s tenure at North Melbourne by quite a margin, they have remedied that. The Roos are second in disposal differential and third in contested possession differential in the AFL. Non-negotiable #1 checked off.
Clarko has clearly emphasised, as a result, that the stoppage game is critical particularly given their inability to transition the ball out of defence at all. They struggled mightily to move the ball from defence against Gold Coast and, even in their best patch of the season, are 15th in scores from the back half.
Returning to clearances, the Roos are fourth in total clearances since the bye and second in clearance differential. Importantly as well, North games are fifth since the bye in total ruck contests. The Roos know that their strength is around the ball and have been good at getting themselves in a situation where they can play to their strengths.
Against Gold Coast North showed real situational ability as well. Against Collingwood in round 14, North Melbourne failed continually to keep the ball in contest situations as the Pies made their run. Collingwood were able to get the ball into clear air and get it flowing where North couldn’t keep up.
Against Gold Coast, on the other hand, they showed much more ability to lock the ball in. Get repeat stoppages, and make sure that any wins kept the ball out of clear air. #2? Check.
Clarko’s third non-negotiable is, again, connected to the first two.
Given the Roos clearance and contested ball excellence, they want to be able to score off those two areas of the game. Being good at clearance and contested ball but not being able to score is like being able to cook but not eat.
The Kangaroos clearly want to play a front-half game. Kick a goal, win the ensuing clearance, lock the ball in. It’s classic modern footy, especially for a team that is going to struggle moving the ball out of defence just by virtue of the talent back there, especially since Harry Sheezel has moved to a permanent midfield role (though Colby McKercher could be the antidote to that).
This facet of the game, in general, has been less successful than the other three.
North is seventh in the AFL at scoring from the forward half and eighth at scoring from turnover. That’s a massive improvement on last season where they were 13th and 17th respectively, but there is room to grow.
The North Melbourne defence has dramatically improved as Aiden Corr has become a borderline star and Charlie Comben has found his feet.
Since the bye North Melbourne are second best at giving up scoring shots per inside 50 and are giving up the third worst shots in the AFL by expected score on their way to being a top-5 scoring defence since their bye.
However, the Roos are giving up the third most inside 50s in the league which means they’re giving their defence too much to do. Most of this is an inability to transition the ball out of defence, given North is second in fewest opposition metres gained but fourth in giving up scores from the forward half.
Eventually weight of entries kill them, but when they get the ball forward it stays there. When the ball does come out of defence, North is susceptible to being scored on as they sit sixth in opposition scores from defensive half. That is an issue.
The Roos are like Fleabag from Fleabag. She is thrown off when the hot priest works out the talking to the audience thing. Similarly as soon as the opposition is able to break through North’s system, like Melbourne was able to at times in round 15, it becomes an issue for North Melbourne.
I’m just going to list the names of players that either are currently, or could soon be, somewhere from good to elite: Xerri, Sheezel, Comben, Corr, McKercher, Larkey, Curtis, Wardlaw, Davies Uniacke, Simpkin, Archer, Duursma and Zurhaar.
None of those players are 30 yet, four are 25 or older. Overall, the Roos have the youngest and least experienced list in the AFL. One is a ruck, three are defenders, four are forwards and the rest are mids. It’s balanced as well. The two crown jewels are Sheezel and Wardlaw, given they are both teenagers.
Harry Sheezel is rated as the 12th best player in the AFL over the last 5 games, Wardlaw the 22nd and Xerri the 26th.
Sheezel and Wardlaw have Pendlebury and Selwood potential. One is preternaturally poised, the other is preternaturally ferocious. Both are exceptional already.
In the game against Gold Coast, Sheezel was extraordinary at the end. He willed himself to contests, chopped off a Noah Anderson handball as Gold Coast threatened to explode forward and got an enormous clearance all in the last 40 seconds. In the game he had 10 clearances, 14 contested possessions and five tackles as well as five inside 50s, four score involvements and a ridiculous goal on his way to 35 disposals at 75%. The kid is a freak, and Wardlaw isn’t far behind.
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Northball is real.
GuyWhoLikesSportJuly 8, 2024
North Melbourne beat Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon for their second win of the season.
They are now officially off the bottom of the AFL ladder, have played in two of the best games of the season (the win against Gold Coast and the narrow loss to Collingwood), and have been competitive since the bye. If I had to make a prediction based on the last five weeks since the bye, I would say that we have seen the last of North Melbourne, cellar dweller.
They are officially rising past rock bottom and promise to be more successful at it than Carmy in the latest season of The Bear. In charge of North Melbourne is Carmy-like figure, Alastair Clarkson. They are both equal parts tempestuous and talented, piloting a ship that looks like it could jump on a rocket or sink at any given moment. They are also both quite short.
More importantly, they have a list of non-negotiables. Clarko’s team is exercising his list of non-negotiables far more easily than Carmy’s chefs managed to create a new menu every day.
Non-negotiable #1 is a simple one. Get the F***ing ball.
When you’re a team as bad as North have been, the base competencies of footy are the most important. The first thing that you need in football is the football. Getting it was a problem for the Roos in the first year of Clarko’s tenure as they sat 17th for disposal differential and 17th for contested possession differential.Since the bye in season 2024, the best patch of Clarko’s tenure at North Melbourne by quite a margin, they have remedied that. The Roos are second in disposal differential and third in contested possession differential in the AFL. Non-negotiable #1 checked off.
Non-negotiable #2 on Clarko’s list is a cousin of #1: win the clearance game.
Part of this, obviously, is knowing where his bread is buttered. With players like Luke Davies-Uniacke, Harry Sheezel, Jai Simpkin, George Wardlaw, Tristan Xerri, and even Will Phillips it’s obvious that North’s strength is around the ball.Clarko has clearly emphasised, as a result, that the stoppage game is critical particularly given their inability to transition the ball out of defence at all. They struggled mightily to move the ball from defence against Gold Coast and, even in their best patch of the season, are 15th in scores from the back half.
Returning to clearances, the Roos are fourth in total clearances since the bye and second in clearance differential. Importantly as well, North games are fifth since the bye in total ruck contests. The Roos know that their strength is around the ball and have been good at getting themselves in a situation where they can play to their strengths.
Against Gold Coast North showed real situational ability as well. Against Collingwood in round 14, North Melbourne failed continually to keep the ball in contest situations as the Pies made their run. Collingwood were able to get the ball into clear air and get it flowing where North couldn’t keep up.
Against Gold Coast, on the other hand, they showed much more ability to lock the ball in. Get repeat stoppages, and make sure that any wins kept the ball out of clear air. #2? Check.
Clarko’s third non-negotiable is, again, connected to the first two.
Given the Roos clearance and contested ball excellence, they want to be able to score off those two areas of the game. Being good at clearance and contested ball but not being able to score is like being able to cook but not eat.
The Kangaroos clearly want to play a front-half game. Kick a goal, win the ensuing clearance, lock the ball in. It’s classic modern footy, especially for a team that is going to struggle moving the ball out of defence just by virtue of the talent back there, especially since Harry Sheezel has moved to a permanent midfield role (though Colby McKercher could be the antidote to that).
This facet of the game, in general, has been less successful than the other three.
North is seventh in the AFL at scoring from the forward half and eighth at scoring from turnover. That’s a massive improvement on last season where they were 13th and 17th respectively, but there is room to grow.
#3? Gold star, but not the full tick.
Second last one.Non-negotiable #4 for Clarko is to improve the defence in general.
Last season, North Melbourne’s defence was barely AFL average. They were the second worst at everything from scoring, to expected score, to scoring shots given up per inside 50.That has changed.The North Melbourne defence has dramatically improved as Aiden Corr has become a borderline star and Charlie Comben has found his feet.
Since the bye North Melbourne are second best at giving up scoring shots per inside 50 and are giving up the third worst shots in the AFL by expected score on their way to being a top-5 scoring defence since their bye.
However, the Roos are giving up the third most inside 50s in the league which means they’re giving their defence too much to do. Most of this is an inability to transition the ball out of defence, given North is second in fewest opposition metres gained but fourth in giving up scores from the forward half.
Eventually weight of entries kill them, but when they get the ball forward it stays there. When the ball does come out of defence, North is susceptible to being scored on as they sit sixth in opposition scores from defensive half. That is an issue.
The Roos are like Fleabag from Fleabag. She is thrown off when the hot priest works out the talking to the audience thing. Similarly as soon as the opposition is able to break through North’s system, like Melbourne was able to at times in round 15, it becomes an issue for North Melbourne.
#4 is a ¾ tick, with the caveat that they’ve not shown much ability to play left-handed yet.
Non-negotiable #5 is probably, the most important one: find the building blocks of your next good team. The Roos have passed with flying colours. This is the chefs trying Carmy’s beef.I’m just going to list the names of players that either are currently, or could soon be, somewhere from good to elite: Xerri, Sheezel, Comben, Corr, McKercher, Larkey, Curtis, Wardlaw, Davies Uniacke, Simpkin, Archer, Duursma and Zurhaar.
None of those players are 30 yet, four are 25 or older. Overall, the Roos have the youngest and least experienced list in the AFL. One is a ruck, three are defenders, four are forwards and the rest are mids. It’s balanced as well. The two crown jewels are Sheezel and Wardlaw, given they are both teenagers.
Harry Sheezel is rated as the 12th best player in the AFL over the last 5 games, Wardlaw the 22nd and Xerri the 26th.
Sheezel and Wardlaw have Pendlebury and Selwood potential. One is preternaturally poised, the other is preternaturally ferocious. Both are exceptional already.
In the game against Gold Coast, Sheezel was extraordinary at the end. He willed himself to contests, chopped off a Noah Anderson handball as Gold Coast threatened to explode forward and got an enormous clearance all in the last 40 seconds. In the game he had 10 clearances, 14 contested possessions and five tackles as well as five inside 50s, four score involvements and a ridiculous goal on his way to 35 disposals at 75%. The kid is a freak, and Wardlaw isn’t far behind.
Non-negotiable #5 gets a huge tick.
North are perfectly executing the list of non-negotiables and they will soon go from competitive every week to a problem for every team.Like what you read from our hard-hitting columnist?
Follow @Guywholikessport on Twitter or check out his FULL BLOG HERE
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True. However, that water flows like Angel Falls through NM BigFooty in general…
