Round 7 – North Melbourne v Adelaide: Happy Days at Blundstone Arena

 

I had a strange feeling going into today’s game. About two hours prior to the opening bounce, I tweeted about my crazy inkling that North might’ve been half a chance to get up against the Crows.

 

Little did I realise the inkling would lead to a 10 goal demolition of the undefeated Crows.

 

I don’t have enough words in my vocabulary to express how happy and how proud I am of our efforts and that win.I think North fans will feel invincible for the next week. Amazing what four quarters of footy can do.

 

North have now won their past three games against the Crows outside of Adelaide Oval. Today, Round 1, 2016 and Round 22, 2014. That’s not bad considering the Crowiss have been up and about over the past few seasons.

 

Jarrad Waite was back in the side and better than ever. In his first game since round one, he was at his blinding best. 22 possessions, 8 marks and 6 goals in a dominating display.  In both games this season, Waite has had eight scoring shots. 1-7 in round one and 6-2 today. Makes a real difference.

 

Mason Wood was the other one to watch. What a talent. He took a couple of weeks to get his mojo back but he was just on fire today and was a delight to watch. 24 disposals, 5 tackles, 2 goals were exactly what North fans wanted to see.

 

After a forgetful game last week, Ben Cunnington stepped up and responded brilliantly. 29 touches, 13 clearances, 6 tackles and 2 goals. He was a hard man to stop. He rounded out my top three of the day.

 

Must make mention of Sam Gibson, too. Often on the receiving end of endless criticism, little take notice to when he stands up and performs. Took Rory Sloane out of the game in a shutdown role and did it brilliantly. Thompson and Tarrant were strong down back and McDonald put in another stellar performance.

 

I think the most important thing that came from the win is that the Roos are actually a pretty good side. They should probably be 5-2, but they’re not so we’ll just work with what we’ve got. They played four sizzling quarters of football and dominated the game. They led at every change, and while the Crows got within 5-6 goals a couple of times throughout the game, North just kept hustling and never gave in. It’s what we’ve been waiting seven weeks to see and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

 

I don’t think the win means much in terms of Adelaide. They’re a class side who were beaten by the better team on the day. Simple as that. I still rate them and I still think they’re up there with GWS and Geelong as the competition benchmark. Ultimately, every side will lose games throughout the year. People silly enough to label them ‘pretenders’ after one loss really need to get a grip. Does that mean GWS are pretenders after they lost to St Kilda????? Are Geelong in strife after losing to Collingwood???  Nah, just give the winning side some credit and move on.

 

North now have a big chance to get on a role. They don’t leave Melbourne until July 1 and only play one game away from Etihad. I think the talk of finals is a little ridiculous but I’m keen to see some cracking performances. Four quarters efforts are the aim of the game.

 

I’m just looking forward to seeing how we respond to each result. This is a year of learning and growing and I think we doing quite well so far.

 

In the words of Ross Lyon, strap yourselves in, Roo fans.

 

Enjoy the ride.

 

Comments

  1. Marnie- the first quarter was remarkable, and North were beyond dominant. There was a certain inevitability of each Roos’ forward entry generating a goal towards the end of that opening term.

    As you indicate, perspective now becomes relevant. North fans will see it as a turning point and game to kick-start their season, while Crows supporters will label it an anomaly, and hope that next week witnesses a return to winning form.

  2. I told you Marnie last week they would beat Adelaide. I am confident that the winning form will continue and these players are strong, determined men and want to control the destiny of our club to success and their careers to get success, and they will have everyone on board, have no fear. They want success and they will get it. So I will not be surprised if these players reach the heights for no other reason that collectively they want it and they know now what to do to get it. This was no flash in the pan, I truly believe this is the beginning of a new and bold era for the North boys and Brad Scott. We are starting to really mean business and everyone else before long will bloody well know about North Melbourne. We have our mindset tuned to tough, confident, positive body language ,tackling, smothering, great pressure on the opposition, heaps of talking and communication and decisive play, where we have control, real control of the games we play, which all players young and older have bought into. That first quarter was no luck, so we can look forward as North fans to a great era. I just know it.

  3. Hi Marnie,

    I guess it is hard to establish the new form of playing footy after Boomber had to go as he was a goal kicker and a mentor. Sadly it takes time to gain power after great veterans go. After not winning Grand Final three times in 2009 and 2010, St Kilda went downhill and won the wooden spoon in 2014, and now we play good footy again.

    St Kilda should host at least one SA club at Etihad. We have to travel to Adelaide Oval to play both Crows and Power. I have to admit it is unfair

    All the best

    Yoshi

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