In a game of home-and-away football, the main thing that counts for a club is their performance. What North Melbourne showed on Sunday the 31st of May at the ‘G was, as coach Brad Scott said, absolutely disgusting.
I don’t know what North Melbourne supporters, whether at the game, watching it on a TV, or listening to it on the radio, were thinking when their 39-point lead turned into a 14-point deficit in just thirty-two minutes and sixteen seconds. Even though I didn’t see Collingwood’s amazing third quarter (this was because I was watching West Coast v Geelong), I saw in the bottom right corner of my Samsung TV the scores completely turn around. I pointed this out to my family, but they were too busy watching the Eagles kicking horribly.
Both teams took a while to kick a goal, with North Melbourne’s Jarrad Waite kicking the first, and Collingwood’s Jarrod Witts following suit. Then it would be another eleven minutes before North Melbourne would kick their second goal. After two more goals were kicked by the Kangaroos, it was quarter time, and North Melbourne had started strong with a 20-point lead. Then, the Kangaroos took control, kicking 6.2 to the Magpies’ 3.1. The lead had been extended from 20 to 39 points. It all seemed over for the Magpies. Most people agreed with that.
How very wrong we all were.
Scott Pendlebury kicked a goal in first minute of play. The lead is now 33 points. Five minutes later, after the Kangaroos kicked two points to take the lead out to 35, Travis Cloke kicked another goal for the Pies. It’s now 29 points. Jamie Elliott kicked the next goal. 23 points. I know a comeback when I see one. I knew the Magpies were on to something there. And I was right. Another goal, this time by Jack Crisp. 17 points. Shaun Higgins tried to fight back for the Kangaroos, but he failed, and only added a behind to the lead. Then Dane Swan responded with the Magpies’ fifth unanswered goal. The lead, 39 points at half time, was now only 12 points. Then it was 6 with the help of Jamie Elliott. North Melbourne supporters must’ve been sitting there, thinking, ‘What the bloody hell just happened?’ Jamie Elliott then kicked his third goal for the quarter and the game to make the scores sixty-nine apiece. This succession of goals continued until the start of the fourth quarter, when the Magpies had kick ten unanswered goals, and led by 20 points.
The game seemed over for the Kangaroos in a most embarrassing fashion, but Robin Nahas, Lindsay Thomas, and Jarrad Waite each kicked a goal to bring the lead down to 2 points. It was game on then. But it would be ten minutes before the Kangaroos kicked a goal, and by then, it was the beginning of the ‘sudden death’ stage. Heavy rain made the football like a piece of soap, and it took two misses before the Magpies could regain the lead. And in the last minutes, after Jarryd Blair had kicked another goal to take the lead out to 10 points, it was all over for the Kangaroos. Their 39-point lead had turned into a 17-point loss, and nobody knew how to respond to that. Brad Scott was dumbfounded. I was dumbfounded. I’m pretty sure everyone who barracked for North Melbourne was dumbfounded.
A 56-point turnaround in one hour of football. That’s not something you want to happen to your club. Because if it does, it takes a lot of time to forget it. And I’m pretty sure that the Kangaroos won’t forget this match for a long time.
Collingwood 1.2 4.3 13.5 17.10 (112)
North Melbourne 4.4 10.6 10.9 14.11 (95)
Goals – Collingwood: Elliott 5; Fasolo, Swan 2; Cloke, Sidebottom, Blair, Crisp, Grundy, Pendlebury, White, Witts
North Melbourne: Nahas, Waite 3; Petrie 2; Gibson, Higgins, Bastinac, Goldstein, Macmillan, Thomas.
Best – Collingwood: Sidebottom, Swan, Elliott, Crisp, Grundy, Adams, Pendlebury.
North Melbourne: Goldstein, Higgins, Waite, Ziebell.
Umpires: Nicholls, Schmitt, Mitchell
Crowd: 43,452
Votes: Swan (COLL) 3; Elliott (COLL) 2; Sidebottom (COLL) 1.
Ethan, good win last night by the roos. Pride shown, but why does it always have to be a backs to the wall time?