Oppo Camp The Non-North Footy Discussion & Matchday Chat Thread (NNFD&MCT) IX

[SammyRoo]

At some point you tip your hat to Geelong. Immediately setting upon Walker when he pulled his f50 ruck move, the little knock-ons, shepherds, understanding where teammates are. Blokes like Atkins treating every tackle and contested ball like it's a final. Blokes like Cameron not budging an inch when running back with the flight. Blokes like Humphries, O'Connor and Blicavs practicing on their non-preferred so that they never end up in trouble when being corralled.

If you want to find a team that is the opposite of everything we are, look no further

Yep. A Proper football team.

Hopefully North boys see how hard they work for each other

 

[tales129]

Extremely well drilled team.

I know bailey smith is a can short of a carton but he described with detail what they had to do to get the game on their own terms.

I’ve never heard a north player talk like that and if you can teach that deadshit that in 15 minutes at half time you’re a decent coach

 

[Disco Dew]

Crows are dominating despite the fisting.
10 goal win incoming

Stopped watching just before half time to put kids to bed and then got sidetracked. Did this age well or what?

 

[tazaa]

At some point you tip your hat to Geelong. Immediately setting upon Walker when he pulled his f50 ruck move, the little knock-ons, shepherds, understanding where teammates are. Blokes like Atkins treating every tackle and contested ball like it's a final. Blokes like Cameron not budging an inch when running back with the flight. Blokes like Humphries, O'Connor and Blicavs practicing on their non-preferred so that they never end up in trouble when being corralled.

If you want to find a team that is the opposite of everything we are, look no further

I watched Atkins the battler will himself to win the footy from contest to contest late in the 2nd quarter, that turned the game Geelong's way.
Atkins.

This man has a a tenth of the natural ability of some of our players.

Workrate, cleanliness with the ball, pressure and attack on the man - we can hate on Geelong and Scott and Danger all we want but how they front up week after week, year after year and leave it all out there is envious.

They are the reverse North.
We have not beaten them since 2015 and I genuinely can't see when the next win comes. Sad.

 

[zoomba23]

I watched Atkins the battler will himself to win the footy from contest to contest late in the 2nd quarter, that turned the game Geelong's way.
Atkins.

This man has a a tenth of the natural ability of some of our players.

Workrate, cleanliness with the ball, pressure and attack on the man - we can hate on Geelong and Scott and Danger all we want but how they front up week after week, year after year and leave it all out there is envious.

They are the reverse North.
We have not beaten them since 2015 and I genuinely can't see when the next win comes. Sad.

Atkins repeated the dose with the game in the balance in the fourth, too. Some genuinely incredible tackles and ground-ball wins. But you know if he came to North that that fire would probably be slowly extinguished out of him as he toiled away whilst his teammates watched on gormlessly. Sad is definitely an apt word for it

 

[Rod Stroker]

Tonights game just showed how far off it we are.

 

[tazaa]

Atkins repeated the dose with the game in the balance in the fourth, too. Some genuinely incredible tackles and ground-ball wins. But you know if he came to North that that fire would probably be slowly extinguished out of him as he toiled away whilst his teammates watched on gormlessly. Sad is definitely an apt word for it

Sadly expectations and standards dip at Arden St.
Its needs to be a collective effort and it cant all be left to one hand.

I am still holding out hope that we do show some real old old school North fight on Saturday.
Going back to the early Scott and Laidley years of fighting it out after a belting.

Gold Coast toughed it out in the heat last week and cant be trusted as a football side just yet.

I would be more confident if we weren't carrying so many sore boys.
I am almost more inclined to give LDU and and X a rest, take the mulligan and then get them cherry ripe for Good Friday.

 

[Passmore]

LOL ...does anyone actually just enjoy a neutral game of footy without moaning how shit North are?

 

[zoomba23]

LOL ...does anyone actually just enjoy a neutral game of footy without moaning how shit North are?

I've had like seventeen different responses to this pop up in my head, because I think I started the shitness circlejerk on this occasion, but there's no cohesive way of tying every thought together, so I'll try and keep it sweet.

I enjoyed the game.

I didn't spend the game on the couch bemoaning everything that happened on the field that North would struggle with.

I saw Geelong execute fundamentals and gritty football actions very well.

Upon the game finishing, thinking about these fundamentals being executed made me think of North, and how our players could surely become capable in many of those fundamental areas without putting themselves out too much.

Thinking about that made me wonder for the millionth time why we aren't already at that stage.

I then came on here to voice these inane observations in an (as always futile, because no one on here works for the club footy department) attempt to express and organise these ideas in some sort of concrete fashion. Maybe to give myself some emotional grounding, maybe to give others some. But ultimately to convey the underlying idea that some of the broken things at North surely are a matter of simple application and thus, in Bard's immortal words, an easy fix.

It comes from a place of helpless, hostaged love.

If the negativity really does bother you, the ignore button is there. Though if you removed constant negativity from your Bigfooty experience, it'd probably just be you, The Talent Scout, and a few lurkers with suspect spelling

 

[The Talent Scout]

Stopped watching just before half time to put kids to bed and then got sidetracked. Did this age well or what?

 

[chubbspeterson]

I watched Atkins the battler will himself to win the footy from contest to contest late in the 2nd quarter, that turned the game Geelong's way.
Atkins.

This man has a a tenth of the natural ability of some of our players.

Workrate, cleanliness with the ball, pressure and attack on the man - we can hate on Geelong and Scott and Danger all we want but how they front up week after week, year after year and leave it all out there is envious.

They are the reverse North.
We have not beaten them since 2015 and I genuinely can't see when the next win comes. Sad.

The irony is we taught them a lesson one day in Geelong and they went onto become the club they are now.

 

[The Talent Scout]

Well that was an interesting game, some observations, crows had the game in their hand but terrible defending just before half time with 3 goals where they shouldn't have even been scored against was totally incomprehensible! From ten minutes before half time until the end the crows made so many amazing errors it was just like watching a few country footballers, it was incredible.

Matt Crouch twice in key areas of the game turned the ball over when they were going forward because he couldn't/wouldn't kick on his right foot. Mitch Hinge in that last quarter was like watching Benny Hill, not only no awareness {in a last quarter when it was neck & neck} but he thought he had half an hour to turn left/ turn right and by the time he decided he was gone, unbelievable. With Tom Stuart a late out, the crows at home should have won this game but their defence was plain out terrible from the period I've mentioned.

Jordan Dawson also did it a few times when corralled onto his right foot, ended up nothing kicks, turnover. Josh Worrell in that last quarter was even more disturbing with his rushed kicks and awareness because he had none and now we come to the last one Rory Laird, for an experienced player my goodness that last half was shaking the head stuff, I understand why they moved him out of the middle last year and went back to half back but with some of the other guys mentioned adds the reason why they not only lost, but should have buried the cats much earlier.

Boy oh boy they missed Nick Murray, he's a stable player who just gets the job done. The cats, well give them credit, they kept on getting a sniff from the downright stupid mistakes from a couple of the crows players and they got on a roll, Tom Atkins needs special praise here, if you watched that second half, he is the type of footballer you would like in your team, great game indeed! Danger with his experience was to clever for that crows defence tonight, and Cameron who had been pretty quiet came to life when they could sense the crows were wilting, top player.

The guy with the headband, oh, hang on a minute, I mean Dempsey, also played well after half time, that last quarter was high pressure football and the cats hunted the crows and at certain points in that last quarter it seemed that Geelong had 30 players out on the ground, in the end the crows were left shell shocked after a stunning opening quarter.

 

[Passmore]

The irony is we taught them a lesson one day in Geelong and they went onto become the club they are now.

Yes, and to think I enjoyed at the time...if I'd known what was coming....

 

[Passmore]

I've had like seventeen different responses to this pop up in my head, because I think I started the shitness circlejerk on this occasion, but there's no cohesive way of tying every thought together, so I'll try and keep it sweet.

I enjoyed the game.

I didn't spend the game on the couch bemoaning everything that happened on the field that North would struggle with.

I saw Geelong execute fundamentals and gritty football actions very well.

Upon the game finishing, thinking about these fundamentals being executed made me think of North, and how our players could surely become capable in many of those fundamental areas without putting themselves out too much.

Thinking about that made me wonder for the millionth time why we aren't already at that stage.

I then came on here to voice these inane observations in an (as always futile, because no one on here works for the club footy department) attempt to express and organise these ideas in some sort of concrete fashion. Maybe to give myself some emotional grounding, maybe to give others some. But ultimately to convey the underlying idea that some of the broken things at North surely are a matter of simple application and thus, in Bard's immortal words, an easy fix.

It comes from a place of helpless, hostaged love.

If the negativity really does bother you, the ignore button is there. Though if you removed constant negativity from your Bigfooty experience, it'd probably just be you, The Talent Scout, and a few lurkers with suspect spelling

Do whatever makes you happy. Was a question is all.

 

[DuckYeah]

Yep. A Proper football team.

Hopefully North boys see how hard they work for each other

We are pay cheque destination club for B grade footballers and players who dont give a shit.

 

[Marstermind]

LOL ...does anyone actually just enjoy a neutral game of footy without moaning how shit North are?

No. We're North supporters. We view footy through a blue and white lens and its stark that games like last night's appear to be a totally different sport to what we play.

Atkins repeated the dose with the game in the balance in the fourth, too. Some genuinely incredible tackles and ground-ball wins. But you know if he came to North that that fire would probably be slowly extinguished out of him as he toiled away whilst his teammates watched on gormlessly. Sad is definitely an apt word for it

It's called culture. Obviously not every player of theirs makes it, but every player knows the standards, knows their role and commits to it. They don't have a bevy of high draft picks but guys come into the team when they're ready and they know exactly what it takes.

 

[Passmore]

No. We're North supporters. We view footy through a blue and white lens and its stark that games like last night's appear to be a totally different sport to what we play.



It's called culture. Obviously

They'll take a pain in the arse like Bailey Smith and have him toe the line. They'll do the same again with JUH and Oliver.

You set foot in there and the expectations would smack you in the face.

 

[giantroo]

View attachment NMzxzpjEMGBmjBSM-1.mp4

 

[Disco Dew]

I think he was just showing how many lines he’s going to do to celebrate

 

[Hearts to hearts]

LOL ...does anyone actually just enjoy a neutral game of footy without moaning how shit North are?

For years now I just get into a different mindset and watch as if I’m new to the sport and can just enjoy it for what it is. What quality teams do is like a different sport to what I watch at our games, so it’s not that hard. I watch all the Collingwood games with or for my loved ones so I had to do something, otherwise I’d spend the whole season miserable (instead of just the compulsory three hours a week that my team is on the field plus my mental cool-down period).

 

[Benj7]

The kittens are the best afl team in modern era. It was between the cats and kangas in 2001 for me and I’m glad I picked the right team

 

[Only Forwards]

I watched Atkins the battler will himself to win the footy from contest to contest late in the 2nd quarter, that turned the game Geelong's way.
Atkins.

This man has a a tenth of the natural ability of some of our players.

Workrate, cleanliness with the ball, pressure and attack on the man - we can hate on Geelong and Scott and Danger all we want but how they front up week after week, year after year and leave it all out there is envious.

They are the reverse North.
We have not beaten them since 2015 and I genuinely can't see when the next win comes. Sad.

I have this increasing sense that we have lost the hard fought core of what it means to be North Melbourne.

The weights all weigh the same.

This was a thing that our players used to say to each other as our facilities crumbled around their ears but our players banded together and applied effort and threw punches in football terms that they were not supposed to be able to throw. We had players who would bring their tools to training and do running repairs on the place as they went.

On field we punched far above our weight.

We had nothing but we were good at fighting and football and if you stood against us we would fight to get the ball back.

Now we have a team of high draft picks but a collective playing group who simply do not consistently do the hard things. By hard things I mean the work for each other. it sticks out like dogs balls when we have a single player shepherd. How consistently do we play cheap low percentage football? how often do our forward lead backwards rather than forward? how often do our mids dump kick rather than persist to an option? How often does that option actually present to the ball carrier?

Compared to our own past successful teams our current players want for nothing and yet when it comes to game day we melt all the time when pressure is applied. We have gone from being thistles that were born of hardship to being orchids who require perfect conditions to do anything.

The over arching emotion I feel at the football now is anger. Watching us get beaten again and again and not having a f***ing yelp of anything from anyone.

 

[ferball]

I have this increasing sense that we have lost the hard fought core of what it means to be North Melbourne.

The weights all weigh the same.

This was a thing that our players used to say to each other as our facilities crumbled around their ears but our players banded together and applied effort and through punches in football terms that they were not supposed to be able to throw. We had players who would bring their tools to training and do running repairs on the place as they went.

On field we punched far above our weight.

We had nothing but we were good at fighting and football and if you stood against us we would fight to get the ball back.

Now we have a team of high draft picks but a collective playing group who simply do not consistently do the hard things. By hard things I mean the work for each other. it sticks out like dogs balls when we have a single player shepherd. How consistently do we play cheap low percentage football? how often do our forward lead backwards rather than forward? how often do our mids dump kick rather than persist to an option? How often does that option actually present to the ball carrier?

Compared to our own past successful teams our current players want for nothing and yet when it comes to game day we melt all the time when pressure is applied. We have gone from being thistles that were born of hardship to being orchids who require perfect conditions to do anything.

The over arching emotion I feel at the football now is anger. Watching us get beaten again and again and not having a f***ing yelp of anything from anyone.

Be nice if you could bottle that and give it to the boys cos so they have a good long swig on it before the game.


One thing they need right now is to learn how to play angry.

 

[muttley45]

That Crows v Geelong game just showed that legitimate pressure on the ball carrier can help swing the momentum if consistently applied

 

[tazaa]

I have this increasing sense that we have lost the hard fought core of what it means to be North Melbourne.

The weights all weigh the same.

This was a thing that our players used to say to each other as our facilities crumbled around their ears but our players banded together and applied effort and through punches in football terms that they were not supposed to be able to throw. We had players who would bring their tools to training and do running repairs on the place as they went.

On field we punched far above our weight.

We had nothing but we were good at fighting and football and if you stood against us we would fight to get the ball back.

Now we have a team of high draft picks but a collective playing group who simply do not consistently do the hard things. By hard things I mean the work for each other. it sticks out like dogs balls when we have a single player shepherd. How consistently do we play cheap low percentage football? how often do our forward lead backwards rather than forward? how often do our mids dump kick rather than persist to an option? How often does that option actually present to the ball carrier?

Compared to our own past successful teams our current players want for nothing and yet when it comes to game day we melt all the time when pressure is applied. We have gone from being thistles that were born of hardship to being orchids who require perfect conditions to do anything.

The over arching emotion I feel at the football now is anger. Watching us get beaten again and again and not having a f***ing yelp of anything from anyone.

Well said OF.

The link or comparison I make when I look at the number of early picks we have brought to the club since 2017, is not that they have the talent to make us successful - but how many goes at it will it take until all clicks and the rebuild is complete.

Hawthorns build stuttered after an early flag and eventually they got back on track.
Richmond as well from 2012-2016 were in no mans land.
Melbourne boomed in 2018 then finished second last in 2019, then 9th again in 2020 and then a flag.

Its not all smooth sailing and I worry that when this list matures, we are going to struggle to shake the loser tag and poor culture that has been present for so long.