Round 19 – North Melbourne v Melbourne: When Our Finals Odyssey Ended

 

 

Round 19
North Melbourne v Melbourne
4:15pm, 18^th July 2026
Marvel Stadium

I recently watched Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster “The Odyssey” in cinema. If it taught me anything about North Melbourne, we are still lost at sea, trying to find a way home back to finals footy. Saturday marked another bump in the road, losing a very winnable game to a Melbourne side that looks like a true contender come finals.

The loss now makes it even tougher for the Kangas’ very slim finals chances. Most believed our season ended last week, but I was optimistic that we could revive our chances with a win against a demons side who were in good form. However, it was not to be. Here are some takeaways from the weekend:

 

1. Fast starts

For much of this season, North Melbourne have been slow out of the blocks. But Saturday was different. 6 goals in the first quarter, and a 25-point lead looked like North Melbourne were ready to blow the game open. But despite looking good early, Melbourne kept themselves in the game. It didn’t help the Kangaroos either that after quarter time, North Melbourne kicked two goals up until the fourth quarter, where they ended up with eleven goals.

 

2. Larkey’s magic trick

If there was a game where North Melbourne needed a captain’s game from Nick Larkey, it was today. But like the Pokémon Abra, Nick Larkey disappeared again when his team needed him. I have been defending Nick Larkey for some time now, but I believe the captain’s curse has taken over.

 

3. Battle of the Big Men

The main contest that many highlighted before this game was two of the league’s best ruckman going at it. Max Gawn has been the benchmark for ruckmen for years, and he made it clear that he is still the benchmark against a top 3 ruckman in the AFL against Tristan Xerri. Gawn had 21 hitouts, 23 disposals and took 8 marks, while Xerri had 15 hitouts, 19 disposals and a goal for the day.

 

4. Footy is better with mates

There isn’t much I like more than watching the footy on the weekend, where you can get away from all the chaos of life for a couple of hours. I truly believe it is much better with mates. I took my friend, Thomas (Better known as Ketch) to the game on Saturday. To say I had a good time sitting next to the Melbourne cheer squad would be an understatement. It was better with a friend to share the experience with. Thanks Ketch. Much love.

 

The statistics (From the AFL match report)

NORTH MELBOURNE    6.1    7.2     8.7     11.10 (76)
MELBOURNE                 4.1    6.4   10.10   13.14 (92)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Curtis 3, Spargo 2, Darling 2, Trembath, Sheezel, Xerri, Whitlock
Melbourne: Jefferson 4, van Rooyen 2, L.Pickett 2, Sparrow, Sharp, K.Pickett, Langford, Heath

BEST
North Melbourne: Sheezel, Davies-Uniacke, Xerri, O’Sullivan, Simpkin, Harvey
Melbourne: K.Pickett, Sparrow, Gawn, Bowey, Jefferson, Steele

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Melbourne: Turner (chest), Jiath (leg)

Crowd: 25,025 at Marvel Stadium

 

 

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