Round 18 – Collingwood v North Melbourne: Three takeaways from the one that got away

 

 

Round 18
Collingwood v North Melbourne
7:40pm, Friday 10 July 2026
Marvel Stadium

 

As I left on Friday night, there was only one song I could think of. ABBA’s “Slipping through my fingers”. The ABBA classic is written about the rapid time that a child grows up and the heartbreak behind it. On Friday night though, I thought that ABBA song was more about watching the original pioneers of Friday night footy North Melbourne return to the marquee timeslot (a timeslot that the Roos made famous in the 80s and 90s) after 2,534 days, go toe to toe with a giant of the AFL, and almost win the game. All of the thrill only for it to slip away in the final quarter, with Collingwood emerging 4-point winners over a brave Kangaroos team in front of over 48,000 people (including myself) at Marvel Stadium.

As I sit and wonder all the ways the Kangaroos could have won on Friday night, here are the three takeaways I got from the game.

 

1 – Oh (No) captain, my captain

Through the dark days of the past decade, Nick Larkey has been a light. He has consistently been our best forward and took on the captaincy this year from Jye Simpkin. However, his recent performances have been making North fans remember the times when he was a dominant full forward who rarely missed. And Friday night, especially the first quarter, is one that I think Nick Larkey would want to forget. After Larkey hit the post from close range on a slight angle, I messaged my brother and told him, “Someone has put the mocca on him Dennis”.  What followed had to be seen to be believed. Larkey missed his second shot from the boundary, but the third. Oh boy the third behind. The ball flies over the pack, the ball landing in the goal square, Larkey goes to kick it off the ground, kicks it into the post and falls over. I couldn’t believe what I had seen. Finally, the shock and horror ended. A 50m penalty goes against the Magpies, and he finally kicks a goal. The relief on his face said it all. At the end of the night, he kicked three goals and four behinds. He had a much better second half of the game and was a presence in the forward line during the second half. But from a fans perspective, many were quick to blame the loss on our captain. I, however, stand by our captain.

 

2 – North need to go big defensively

There are a lot of people who might disagree with this, but I truly believe North Melbourne need to go big with signing a key defender in the offseason. North Melbourne already have many of the pieces needed for a team getting out of a rebuild.  A stacked midfield that is young and building more and more confidence, a forward line that has a mixture of veterans and emerging stars, and a ruckman who many believe is a top three ruckman in the AFL. But what North Melbourne needs to fix is the defence. We have made progress defensively, with Luke Parker and Cam Zuhaar both becoming valuable pieces down back this season. The undersized Caleb Daniel still gives his best defensively and gave his all on Friday night too. Aidan Corr had his best game in the blue and white on Friday night, but he does not deliver these performances regularly enough to be considered a viable key defender in my opinion. Charlie Comben is both a fan favourite and someone who North fans will actively dislike during any given week. He is also someone who has become a target for the upcoming Tasmanian team. What I believe North Melbourne need to do is go big on a key defender, someone like a Josh Gibson type, or Brian Lake. There have been some rumblings that North Melbourne were targeting Carlton’s Jacob Weitering, who would be a major upgrade and addition to the North Melbourne backline.

 

3 – The Kangaroos belong back in primetime timeslots

Friday night showed that North Melbourne, when paired with the right dance partner, could still attract a big crowd to a marquee timeslot. Ticketmaster was sold out days before the game started, and the stadium announcer for Collingwood was frequently telling the crowd who were sitting on level 3 to not leave any seats vacatant. Despite the loss, North Melbourne showed that it deserves to be back in primetime slots. I am hopeful that it won’t take the AFL seven years to put the Roos back on Friday night footy again. With the Collingwood win, their wildcard hopes have been boosted significantly, while it heavily dints the hopes of North Melbourne’s wildcard chances. North Melbourne will be back at Marvel Stadium against a Melbourne side looking to make a statement, while Collingwood face their old rivals Carlton at the MCG on Saturday night.

As I leave Southern Cross Station to venture home with my partner, she falls asleep on my shoulder. I put my headphones on and can only think of one thought. How did North Melbourne let this slip through their fingers? It is what I imagine a lot of supporters were feeling.

 

COLLINGWOOD               4.4   7.5   10.7   13.11 (89)
NORTH MELBOURNE       3.4   6.6   9.10   12.13 (85)

GOALS
Collingwood: McStay 3, Lipinski 2, Membrey 2, Schultz, Pendlebury, Swadling, Cameron, N.Daicos, Crisp
North Melbourne: Curtis 3, Larkey 3, Trembath, Darling, Banch, Spargo, Hardeman, Xerri

BEST
Collingwood: J.Daicos, N.Daicos, McStay, Lipinski, De Goey
North Melbourne: Simpkin, Sheezel, Xerri, Zurhaar, Curtis

INJURIES
Collingwood: Lachie Schultz (ankle)
North Melbourne: Tom Blamires (concussion)

Crowd: 48,369

 

Read other Round 18 match reports HERE

 

Read Frank’s debut piece, from Round 17, HERE

 

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