Round 10 – North Melbourne v West Coast: Blustery at Blundstone

Blundstone

 

North Melbourne versus West Coast Eagles

3.20pm, Sunday 7th June 2015

Blundstone Arena, Hobart

by Alex Richards, aged 11 years

 

Down in Tassie at three in the afternoon you would be able to see two legendary teams face off if you were at Blundstone Arena, like I was. The weather was particularly windy with patches of sunshine every now and then. It was a strong north-westerly and as North Melbourne won the toss Andrew Swallow chose to kick the way that anyone would have chosen. He chose to kick with the wind, with the hope that the wind would slow down by the last quarter.

The ball is bounced and as it flies up high in the air Naitanui smashes it to the ground with his fist. A goal 5 minutes in for the Eagles gives the whole team hope to win the quarter kicking against the wind. But North Melbourne bounce back easily with 2 more goals in 20 mins. Then two back to back goals from Ben Brown signifies to the Eagles that they aren’t going to win the quarter as they would have hoped. By the end of the quarter North lead by three goals in a six goal wind. The scores stand at North Melbourne 4.4.28 to the Eagles 1.4.10.

6 Mins pass since the start of the 2nd quarter but no goals for either side shows that West Coast are lacking strength and North Melbourne are really slowing them down with their good defensive marks. Then back to back goals from Fraser McInnes show the crowd that the Eagles are still in this. The wind is driving North Melbourne crazy as they have just rushed it three times through the Eagles goals. Josh Kennedy for the Eagles kicks another goal to give the team a catch-up to the kangaroos. The Kangas are back at it as Shaun Higgins kicks a goal to catch up to the eagles grabbing for the victory. Then another goal and behind for the Eagles says to North Melbourne the quarter is not over yet. Lindsay Thomas goes for a high fly over some west coast shirts but falls to the ground looking hurt. The scores are North Melbourne 5.4.34 to the Eagles 5.11.41.

Higgins is straight back into the North Melbourne routine kicking another goal for the kangaroos. But it looks as if West Coast aren’t finished yet. Liam Duggan and Josh Kennedy kick two more goals to stretch the lead out to 12 points. A disappointing 100th game for Nahas being subbed off for the Kangas, with Ben Jacobs coming on. The wind is literally blowing the ball back the way it came. It is at centre half forward for the kangas and west coast is getting it through the corridor but it blew all the way back past them like a boomerang. Ben Brown is not giving up though with his hope for a win against a potential finals side. Shaun Higgins with another shows that he cannot be stopped. And Brent Harvey boots one more to end another quarter of football. Shaun Higgins has played a very good game so far with 3 goals and many disposals. Now to end that quarter the Kangaroos are 9.6.60 to the West Coast Eagles 7.12.54.

Straight away you can see from the bounce North Melbourne are determined to win this one with Drew Petrie taking a strong mark inside 50. He slots it easily. The Eagles still aren’t giving up though with Shannon Hurn kicking a spectacular goal from outside 50 and Kennedy kicking another. Jack Ziebell, a great leader, slices one through the big sticks telling the Eagles for every goal that they kick north will always come back at them. Next Todd Goldstein, the big guy, slots one. Is there anyone in North Melbourne who hasn’t kicked a goal in this last half? Sharrod Wellingham kicks another goal for the Eagles with the wind to try and hope for a last minute comeback. But here is Higgins again who easily picks the ball from the ground and kicks what I think is the winning goal. A few more behinds near the end of the match shows that the tides have turned and it is North Melbourne’s turn to celebrate a great win against a finals team. Final scores North Melbourne Kangaroos 13.7.85 to the West Coast Eagles 10.15.75. A great match has been won and well done to all the Kangaroos players and coaches.

 

Scores:

North Melbourne                    4.4                   5.4                   9.6                   13.7 (85)

West Coast Eagles                  1.4                   5.11                 7.12                 10.15 (75)

 

Goals:

North Melbourne: Brown 3, Higgins 4, Thomas, Gibson, Harvey, Petrie, Ziebell, Goldstein

West Coast: McInnes 2, Kennedy 3, Duggan, Hurn, Cripps, Gaff, Wellingham

 

Best:

North Melbourne:       Ziebell, Higgins, Goldstein, Harvey, Brown

West Coast:                  Priddis, Gaff, Yeo, Wellingham, Shuey

Umpires:

Bannister, Chamberlain, Jeffrey

 

Crowd:                        12,011 official attendance

 

Brownlow Votes:       3.         Sharrod Wellingham (Eagles)

  1.          Shaun Higgins (North Melbourne)      1. Matt Pridis (Eagles)

 

My Votes:                   3:         Shaun Higgins (North Melbourne)

                                    2:         Drew Petrie (North Melbourne)

                                    1:         Ben Brown (North Melbourne)

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