PC2011 The Rise of the Roos

[Deddy]

Scott Sacked, Stevens Signed
Jan 5th 2011


North Melbourne has announced that head coach Brad Scott's contract has been terminated and he has been replaced by former club legend Anthony Stevens. 'Stevo' has inherited the 2014 list (in the year 2011) and looks to help the team push for a finals birth and an elusive 5th premiership. North is excited to see the performance of key addition Nick Dal Santo and the young cast of draftees.

North unveiling gun recruit, Nick Dal Santo.

 

[Deddy]

Preseason Recap​

North Melbourne 21.8.134 def St.Kilda 11.11.77
Disposals: Wells 34, Cunnington 34, Swallow 33, Gibson 32, Bastinac 29
Goals: Tarrant 5, Petrie 4, Ziebell 3, Adams 2, Hansen, Black, Wells, Nahas, Gibson, Harvey, Greenwood

North Melbourne 14.12.96 def by West Coast 15.8.98
Disposals: Swallow 35, Ziebell 31, Harvey 30, Gibson 29, Bastinac 27
Goals: Petrie 5, Adams 3, Greenwood 2, Black, Harvey, Atley, Ziebell

With a win and a loss North Melbourne have bowed out of the preseason competition, however it has come at a cost with veteran stars Drew Petrie and Brent Harvey both suffering Knee PCL injuries and both being expected to miss the best part of 12 weeks. On top of the already bad news, gun recruit Nick Dal Santo has suffered a shoulder injury at training and there is some doubt over his availability for round 1.

The Roos will be without veterans Drew Petrie and Brent Harvey for at least 12 weeks.

 

[Deddy]

Round 1 Team vs St.Kilda

B: Luke McDonald - Nathan Grima - Lachie Hansen
HB: Aaron Mullett - Scott Thompson - Shaun Atley
C: Nick Dal Santo - Jack Ziebell - Levi Greenwood
HF: Kieran Harper - Aaron Black - Leigh Adams
F: Lindsay Thomas - Robbie Tarrant - Robbie Nahas
FOL: Todd Goldstein - Andrew Swallow - Daniel Wells
INT: Ben Cunnington - Sam Gibson - Ryan Bastinac
SUB: Liam Anthony

EMRG: Jamie MacMillan - Majak Daw - Michael Firrito

Father/Son recruit Luke McDonald has been selected to make his debut for his beloved North Melbourne in their round 1 clash with St.Kilda. Coach Anthony Stevens had this to say about McDonald, "Luke is a great kid, he's got the desire that you want every single player to have. He loves winning and loves North Melbourne. We're expecting big things in the future from Luke."

 

[Deddy]

Saints Snatch Victory in Friday Night Thriller
Mar 18th 2011

North Melbourne: 18.7.115
St. Kilda: 18.9.117

St. Kilda has stolen an unlikely victory over the heavily favored North Melbourne line up. North dismantled the young Saints to the tune of 57 points just over a month ago in the preseason competition but tonight was a different story. The lead never went passed 15 points throughout the duration of the game, the Saints drew first blood early in the first quarter through star forward Nick Riewoldt, the Roos shortly followed with a goal of their own, setting the tone for the match.

The game hung on a knife's edge at three quarter time with the Saints leading by 3 points. North Melbourne kicked three unanswered goals and looked to have the game sealed but the young Saints were relentless and goaled deep in the last quarter to take the lead for good. The Saints snatched victory by 2 points in front of 35,000 loud supporters.

For North Melbourne Todd Goldstein was influential gathering 22 disposals and 36 hitouts, his ruckwork paid dividends for the Roos with midfielders Andrew Swallow (33 disposals, 7 tackles) and Ben Cunnington (32 disposals, 7 clearances) both cashing in on the silver service they recieved.

Evergreen stars Leigh Montagna (31 disposals) and Nick Riewoldt (8 marks, 2.3) lead the charge for the plucky Saints. Riewoldt and North defender Scott Thompson battled hard all night with Riewoldt probably getting the best of Thompson on the night. Young guns Luke Dunstan, Jack Steven and Jack Billings all showed glimpses of the future, with all contributing to the win.

Nick Riewoldt and Scott Thompson jostle for position in a marking contest.

Disposals
NM: Swallow 33, Cunnington 32, Wells 29, Bastinac 27, Gibson 27
STK: Montagna 31, Dunstan 23, Steven 22, Roberton 21, Savage 20

Goals
NM: Black 2, Tarrant 2, Nahas 2, Ziebell 2, Adams 2, Swallow 2, McDonald, Cunnington, Goldstein, Bastinac, Wells, Greenwood
STK: Longer 3, Riewoldt 2, Weller 2, Billings 2, Armitage 2, Steven 2, Stanley, Gwilt, Montagna, Savage, Gilbert

Best
NM: Goldstein, Cunnington, Swallow, Greenwood, Wells
STK: Montagna, Riewoldt, Gwilt, Steven, Geary

 

[Deddy]

Round 3 Team vs West Coast
(Round 2 was a Bye)

B: Luke McDonald - Nathan Grima - Aaron Mullett
HB: Lachie Hansen - Scott Thompson - Shaun Atley
C: Nick Dal Santo - Jack Ziebell - Ryan Bastinac
HF: Leigh Adams - Aaron Black - Robbie Nahas
F: Lindsay Thomas - Robbie Tarrant - Kieran Harper
FOL: Todd Goldstein - Andrew Swallow - Daniel Wells
INT: Ben Cunnington - Levi Greenwood - Sam Gibson
SUB: Jamie MacMillan
EMRG: Majak Daw - Michael Firrito - Sam Wright

IN: Jamie MacMillan
OUT: Liam Anthony

North Melbourne head to Perth in their round 3 clash to take on the West Coast Eagles. North look to avoid dropping to 0-2 but they will have their backs to the wall playing a talented young Eagles side on their home track. Only one change has been made to North's side following their round 1 defeat with Liam Anthony making way for Jamie MacMillan who takes his place as the substitute.

 

[Deddy]

Eagles rout Roos in the West
Apr 4th 2011

North Melbourne: 12.12.84
West Coast: 21.5.131

North Melbourne have gone down by 47 points in a match where they never looked up to the pace. The Eagles kicked the first 5 goals of the match and that set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Their lead was out to 28 points at quarter time and it even ballooned out to 76 at three quarter time, but the Roos kicked 7 last quarter goals to make the result a little more respectable.

No West Coast player collected more than 24 disposals, but only two of them had less than 10, showing the wide spread of contributors the Eagles had. Nic Naitanui was probably the pick of the bunch for the Eagles he collected 19 disposals to go with his 30 hitouts and 2 goals. Naitanui took the chocolates in the dual against fellow up and coming ruckman Todd Goldstein.

Swallow, Cunnington, Bastinac, Gibson, Wells and Ziebell all had more touches than any of the West Coast players but North couldn't take advantage of their asendency in the middle, not often does a team win the clearance count 39-20 and the possessions 406-290 and still soundly lose. North were missing key forward Drew Petrie in a big way, with undersized Aaron Black having to man a key post, the roos may have to look to Ben Brown or Majak Daw to come in and provide a presence in the forward 50 in the next couple of weeks.

Nic Naitanui side by side as they were all game long

Disposals
NM: Swallow 36, Cunnington 33, Bastinac 27, Wells 27, Ziebell 27
WCE: Priddis 24, Gaff 24, Shuey 24, Waters 22, Ellis 22

Goals
NM: Nahas 3, Adams 2, Ziebell 2, Hansen, Thompson, Wells, Tarrant, Mullett
WCE: Kennedy 3, Priddis 3, Gaff 2, LeCras 2, Rosa 2, Naitanui 2, Darling 2, Ellis 2, Hill, Shuey, Waters

Best
NM: Cunnington, Swallow, Wells, Ziebell, Thompson
WCE: Naitanui, Waters, Rosa, Priddis, LeCras

 

[haydo]

Loving the story thus far. Good luck with the Roos though. For some reason PC2011 doesn't rate them

 

[Deddy]

Loving the story thus far. Good luck with the Roos though. For some reason PC2011 doesn't rate them

Cheers mate! Yeah they can be an uphill battle at times but I'm up to it.

 

[haydo]

Cheers mate! Yeah they can be an uphill battle at times but I'm up to it.

Well im looking forward to seeing how you progress

 

[Deddy]

Round 4 Team vs Hawthorn

B: Luke McDonald - Nathan Grima - Lachie Hansen
HB: Sam Wright - Scott Thompson - Shaun Atley
C: Nick Dal Santo - Jack Ziebell - Ryan Bastinac
HF: Levi Greenwood - Robbie Tarrant - Aaron Black
F: Lindsay Thomas - Majak Daw - Robbie Nahas
FOL: Todd Goldstein - Andrew Swallow - Daniel Wells
INT: Ben Cunnington - Jamie MacMillan - Ben Jacobs
SUB: Leigh Adams
EMRG: Kieran Harper - Ben Brown - Brad McKenzie

IN: Majak Daw, Sam Wright, Ben Jacobs
OUT: Kieran Harper, Aaron Mullett, Sam Gibson

North Melbourne has injected 3 fresh faces into it's side with Ben Jacobs, Majak Daw and Sam Wright coming in for Aaron Mullett, Kieran Harper and Sam Gibson who were all omitted from the side following the big loss to West Coast in Perth. Jacobs has had leather poisoning in the reserves side picking up 32, 36 and 33 disposals in his last three outings while Majak Daw was added as another tall presence in the forward line. Sam Wright has been brought in to the side for Aaron Mullet who hasn't looked at his best yet this season after a promising first season.

 

[Deddy]

Hawks outlast Roos in instant classic
Apr 10th 2011

North Melbourne: 16.7.103
West Coast: 16.11.107

The first 3 quarters went exactly to script with Hawthorn outclassing North as everyone expected pushing them out to a 43 point advantage at 3/4 time. Brad Scott marshaled his troops at the break and they came out rejuvinated, kicking 8 goals the the Hawks 2, to make the score 97-101 with just minutes to go, enter Luke McDonald. McDonald, in just his third AFL game, unloaded with a 55m bomb that put the Roos in front deep in red time and it looked to be the winner.

Sam Mitchell came through when the Hawks needed him gathering a clearance that found it's way onto the chest of Jarryd Roughead. Roughead went back and slotted his 5th goal of the game to take the scores to 103-107 in the Hawks favour, as they would stay for the rest of the match. A frantic final 30 seconds ensued but it was too little too late for the Roos with their comeback falling short by 4 points.

Roughead and teammate Jack Gunston comined to boot 8 goals and looked to have the wood over the North Melbourne defenders for most of the match, while Sam Mitchell and Shaun Burgoyne both accumulated well for the Hawks with 36 and 28 disposals respectively. Andrew Swallow was inspirational for North leading the comeback effort with 36 disposals and 2 last quarter goals. Ben Cunnington and Nick Dal Santo also both collected over 30 touches and stood up when the game was on the line.

Jarryd Roughead celebrates one of his five majors

Disposals
NM: Swallow 36, Cunnington 35, Dal Santo 31, Jacobs 28, Bastinac 25
HAW: Mitchell 36, Burgoyne 28, Shiels 25, Whitecross 24, Lake 22

Goals
NM: Swallow 2, Ziebell 2, Wells 2, Tarrant 2, MacMillan, Atley, Thompson, Nahas, Daw, McDonald, Greenwood, Jacobs.
HAW: Roughhead 5, Gunston 3, Hale 2, Whitecross, Smith, Puopulo, Hill, Rioli, Birchall.

Best
NM: Swallow, Cunnington, Jacobs, Dal Santo, Goldstein
HAW: Roughead, Mitchell, Gibson, Lake, Burgoyne

 

[Deddy]

Round 5 Team vs Port Adelaide

B: Luke McDonald - Nathan Grima - Lachie Hansen
HB: Sam Wright - Scott Thompson - Shaun Atley
C: Nick Dal Santo - Jack Ziebell - Ryan Bastinac
HF: Levi Greenwood - Robbie Tarrant - Aaron Black
F: Lindsay Thomas - Majak Daw - Robbie Nahas
FOL: Todd Goldstein - Andrew Swallow - Daniel Wells
INT: Ben Cunnington - Jamie MacMillan - Ben Jacobs
SUB: Leigh Adams
EMRG: Trent Dumont - Taylor Garner - Ben Brown

North Melbourne's side remains unchanged following its 3 point loss to Hawthorn, despite good from from youngsters Ben Brown, Trent Dumont and Taylor Garner in the reserves. North will look to get on the winners list for the first time of the season, when they take on Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

 

[Deddy]

3rd Quarter surge seals North Victory
Apr 16th 2011

Port Adelaide: 15.11.101
North Melbourne: 17.7.109

The first half of this thrilling encounter between Port Adelaide and North Melbourne saw the teams go goal for goal in a see-sawing half of football, with Port Adelaide leading the Roos by 2 points at the long break. The third quarter saw North Melbourne's midfield get on top and win the ball out of the middle, leading to them winning the clearance count at the final siren 47-26.

The game looked as good as sealed with North leading by 35 heading into the final change. An inspired final stanza from the Power followed. Lead by veteran Kane Cornes (who finished with 36 disposals and 11 tackles) Port pegged the lead back to single digits but time ran out on the unlikely comeback and North held on to gain their maiden victory of the season.

North Melbourne's midfield lead the way with Cunnington, Swallow, Dal Santo and Wells all gathering 25+ disposals, while emerging ruckman Todd Goldstein was influential with 37 hitouts, 18 disposals and 6 marks. Majak Daw and Robbie Tarrant were both busy up forward finishing with 3 goals apiece.

Livewire small forward Lindsay Thomas celebrates a goal in North Melbourne's win

Disposals
PA: Cornes 36, White 29, Boak 28, Cassisi 27, Gray 25
NM: Swallow 35, Cunnington 28, Dal Santo 27, Wells 26, Ziebell 23

Goals
PA: Westhoff 3, Stewart 2, Polec 2, Renouf, Wingard, Redden, Schulz, Hartlett, Cassisi, Monfries, Cornes
NM: Tarrant 3, Daw 3, Nahas 2, MacMillan 2, Black, Thomas, Bastinac, Dal Santo, Atley, Cunnington, Ziebell

Best
PA: Cornes, Stewart, Monfries, Gray, Trengove
NM: Cunnington, Dal Santo, Goldstein, Swallow, Grima

 

[haydo]

Love seeing the Power get beaten! Just saying

 

[Deddy]

Round 6 Team vs Fremantle

B: Luke McDonald - Nathan Grima - Lachie Hansen
HB: Jamie MacMillan - Scott Thompson - Shaun Atley
C: Nick Dal Santo - Andrew Swallow - Daniel Wells
HF: Levi Greenwood - Robbie Tarrant - Aaron Black
F: Lindsay Thomas - Majak Daw - Robbie Nahas
FOL: Todd Goldstein - Jack Ziebell - Ben Cunnington
INT: Ryan Bastinac - Sam Wright - Ben Jacobs
SUB: Leigh Adams
EMRG: Trent Dumont - Taylor Garner - Ben Brown

North Melbourne have again gone with an unchanged line up, following their first win for the season. Big men Robbie Tarrant and Majak Daw have begun to gel and will need to fire if the Roos are any chance to win the big duo will need a big influence. Fremantle will be heavily favoured going in to the clash but the young North side play Etihad Stadium well and will give themselves every chance in this one.

 

[Deddy]

Fast starting Fremantle handle North Melbourne
Apr 24th 2011

North Melbourne: 14.9.93
Fremantle: 21.7.133

Fremantle burst out of the gates with 3 goals in the opening 5 minutes of their clash with North Melbourne and from there they coasted to a comprehensive 40 point victory in which they never looked rattled.

Fremantle, courtesy of Aaron Sandilands, won the hitout battle 41-32, leading to the possesion count ending up 383-316 in the Dockers favour. David Mundy and Nat Fyfe had it on a string for the visitors collecting 36 and 35 disposals respectively, while sharpshooter Chris Mayne nailed 5 goals from his 10 touches.

Not much went the way of the home side in this one, being outworked and outclassed from the get go. The Fremantle fowards took advantage of the young Roos defence and rammed home goals all game long. Nick Dal Santo was North's best with 32 disposals, 7 clearances and 2 goals but he didn't have enough support from his teammates around him.

Nat Fyfe fires off a handball away from Jack Ziebell

Disposals
NM: Dal Santo 32, Cunnington 25, Wells 24, Bastinac 22, Goldstein 18
FRE: Mundy 36, Fyfe 35, Barlow 27, Crowley 25, Sylvia 25

Goals
NM: Daw 2, Tarrant 2, Swallow 2, Wells 2, Dal Santo 2, Wright, Nahas, Goldstein, Black
FRE: Mayne 5, Pavlich 3, Suban 2, Walters 2, Hill 2, Ibbotson, Crozier, Sylvia, Mundy, Pearce, Barlow, Fyfe

Best
NM: Dal Santo, Goldstein, Cunnington, Wells, Black
FRE: Mundy, Fyfe, Crowley, Johnson, Sandilands

 

[haydo]

Such a high scoring game for a Fremantle side. Chris Mayne is a goal kicking machine in this game, trust me. Had him bag 10 goals in one match before.

 

[Deddy]

Round 7 Team vs Western Bulldogs

B: Luke McDonald - Scott Thompson - Lachie Hansen
HB: Sam Wright - Nathan Grima - Shaun Atley
C: Nick Dal Santo - Andrew Swallow - Daniel Wells
HF: Taylor Garner - Robbie Tarrant - Aaron Black
F: Lindsay Thomas - Majak Daw - Robbie Nahas
FOL: Todd Goldstein - Jack Ziebell - Ben Cunnington
INT: Ryan Bastinac - Levi Greenwood - Trent Dumont
SUB: Ben Jacobs
EMRG: Liam Anthony - Aaron Mullett - Ben Brown

IN: Trent Dumont, Taylor Garner
OUT: Leigh Adams (Quad), Jamie MacMillan (Omitted)
NEW: Trent Dumont (Norwood)

North Melbourne have made two changes to their team ahead of their upcoming clash with the young Western Bulldogs side. North has not started the season as they would have liked with 1 win from 5 games. North has decided it is time to blood budding midfielder Trent Dumont, while livewire small forward Taylor Garner has been called up after Leigh Adams injured his quad during training this week.

 

[Deddy]

Dogs dispatch disappointing North Melbourne
Apr 30th 2011

Western Bulldogs: 18.10.118
North Melbourne: 15.7.97

North Melbourne's season has just gone from bad to worse following a disappointing 21 point defeat to the Western Bulldogs. North entered as warm favourites over the inexperienced Bulldogs but following a 6 goals to 2 second quarter mauling the Bulldogs looked to have the game in the bag.

Bulldogs skipper Ryan Griffin was at his outstanding best, racking up 37 disposals, 7 tackles, 5 clearances and 1 goal. Young guns Tom Liberatore, Jason Tutt, Jackson Macrae and Jake Stringer all had an impact showing glimpses of the talent this young group possesses.

North Melbourne have been struggling without the guidance of veterans Brent Harvey and Drew Petrie, only winning 1 game in their absence and North Coach Anthony Stevens will be hoping their return will reverse his side's fortunes. Ben Cunnington was prolific at the coalface with 33 disposals and 8 tackles, while debutant Trent Dumont gathered 16 disposals and booted 2 goals showing he belongs at the games top level.

Ben Cunnington looks on as Ryan Griffin and Jackson Macrae celebrate a late goal

Disposals
WB: Griffin 37, Tutt 31, Boyd 30, Liberatore 28, Picken 27
NM: Cunnington 33, Dal Santo 25, Bastinac 24, Wells 23, Swallow 21

Goals
WB: Jones 3, Stringer 2, Macrae 2, Cooney 2, Minson, Cordy, Griffin, Wood, Tutt, Liberatore, Johannissen, Dahlhaus, Crameri
NM: Nahas 3, Daw 2, Thomas 2, Dumont 2, Swallow 2, Tarrant, Ziebell, Cunnington, Goldstein

Best
WB: Griffin, Liberatore, Cooney, Tutt, Minson
NM: Cunnington, Goldstein, Swallow, Grima, Dal Santo

 

[Millky95]

You simming these games or are you playing them?

 

[Deddy]

You simming these games or are you playing them?

Bit of both, depending on how much free time I have

 

[Deddy]

Round 8 Team vs Melbourne

B: Luke McDonald - Scott Thompson - Lachie Hansen
HB: Sam Wright - Nathan Grima - Shaun Atley
C: Levi Greenwood - Nick Dal Santo - Ryan Bastinac
HF: Taylor Garner - Robbie Tarrant - Aaron Black
F: Lindsay Thomas - Majak Daw - Robbie Nahas
FOL: Todd Goldstein - Jack Ziebell - Daniel Wells
INT: Ben Cunnington - Ben Jacobs - Trent Dumont
SUB: Aaron Mullet
EMRG: Brad McKenzie - Kieran Harper - Ben Brown

IN: Aaron Mullett
OUT: Andrew Swallow (Calf Strain)

North Melbourne will enter their clash with Melbourne without their skipper, Andrew Swallow who went down with a calf strain during a training session midway through the week. Aaron Mullett has been recalled to the senior team and while Swallow is out of the side young general Jack Ziebell has been named the stand in captain.

 

[Deddy]

Demons get over the line in thriller at the 'G
May 8th 2011

Melbourne: 17.10.112
North Melbourne: 16.6.102

North Melbourne's abysmal start to the season continued with a loss in a hard fought encounter to the equally struggling Melbourne. The Demons raced out to a 3 goal lead in the first quarter but North pegged them back as the game wore on but it was another case of too little too late for the Roos as they went down by 10 points.

Melbourne won the clearances a staggering 46-19 in a dominant midfield display led by Bernie Vince (34 disposals), Matt Jones (31 disposals), Jordie McKenzie (30 disposals, 7 clearances) and Jack Viney (27 disposals). Jack Watts was the finisher up forward, booting 4 goals to put the Demons clearance dominance on the scoreboard.

For the struggling North Melbourne side Ben Cunnington continued his stellar season with 29 disposals and 9 tackles, while fellow midfielders Nick Dal Santo and Daniel Wells both found their fair share of the pill with 30 and 29 disposals respectively. Todd Goldstein also continued his good form in the ruck with 19 disposals, 31 hitouts and 2 goals.

THAT WINNING FEELING - Melbourne's Bernie Vince celebrates his sides hard fought win as the final siren sounds.

Disposals
MELB: Vince 35, M.Jones 31, McKenzie 30, Viney 27, Trengove 24
NM: Dal Santo 30, Cunnington 29, Wells 29, Bastinac 23, Thompson 21

Goals
MELB: Watts 4, Byrnes 3, Dawes 2, Jamar 2, Dunn, Grimes, Cross, Howe, Tyson, Frawley
NM: Nahas 3, Ziebell 2, Garner 2, Goldstein 2, Greenwood 2, Daw 2, Jacobs, Tarrant, Thompson

Best
MELB: Dunn, Frawley, McKenzie, M.Jones, Vince
NM: Goldstein, Cunnington, Wells, Thompson, Greenwood

 

[haydo]

You know you're having a bad season when you loose to the Demons

 

[Deddy]

Round 9 Team vs Sydney

B: Luke McDonald - Scott Thompson - Sam Wright
HB: Lachie Hansen - Nathan Grima - Shaun Atley
C: Levi Greenwood - Brent Harvey - Daniel Wells
HF: Taylor Garner - Robbie Tarrant - Aaron Black
F: Lindsay Thomas - Majak Daw - Robbie Nahas
FOL: Todd Goldstein - Jack Ziebell - Nick Dal Santo
INT: Ben Cunnington - Ben Jacobs - Ryan Bastinac
SUB: Trent Dumont
EMRG: Ben Jacobs - Aaron Mullett - Ben Brown

IN: Brent Harvey, Leigh Adams
OUT: Aaron Mullett, Ben Jacobs (Both Omitted)

He's backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk! The little champ Boomer is finally back. He is still underdone but with the team performing as it is currently it was worth the risk to avoid the bottom of the ladder and the wooden spoon in a disappointing season. Leigh Adams also joins him returning to the team while Aaron Mullett and Ben Jacobs make way for the pair.