Rohan Connolly, from http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-competition-framework-is-better-than-ever-so-can-we-stop-the-fiddling-for-five-minutes-20170423-gvqix8.html. A reasonable, positive article.
So how are North Melbourne going? Depends who you ask. My suggestion on Twitter on Saturday evening that the Roos had been stiff this season certainly drew plenty of scorn.
There was the usual "chokers" label regularly applied indiscriminately to any team which loses by a kick after leading. And in North's case, the increasingly regular "Brad Scott must go" lines.
I wonder, though, how many people throwing those tags around expected much more from the Roos this season than they're getting? Not many, I would have thought. And if those that did were unrealistic to expect more, I reckon they're also being a bit harsh now.
This is a team that has calculatedly taken the rebuilding route, with the departures of five veterans at the end of last year shedding close to 1600 games worth of collective experience to do so. This year was never going to be smooth sailing, most people consigning the Roos to the bottom four, where with a 0-5 scoreline now, they're every chance to wind up.
The question now is whether the focus, after three losses by under a kick, should be on the five-goal leads North have given up each time, or the effort in getting to those winning positions. I think it's the latter.
Two of the defeats have been to a reigning premier and a preliminary finalist of last season, both in pretty decent form again. The other, on Saturday, was against a clearly revitalised Fremantle in Perth, the most difficult of road trips, where North have won just twice in their last dozen appearances.
It's true the Roos under Scott have issues in the tight finish. In his eighth season as coach, North have lost 21 games decided by single figures, and won only nine. Then again, how many expected them to be that close to those three teams this season anyway?
The effort can't be questioned. And the gains have been considerable, the Roos already using 29 players and
handing six their AFL debuts, all of whom have had some sort of impact when given a chance.
Senior recruits Nathan Hrovat and Marley Williams have added plenty, Trent Dumont has improved out of sight, Mason Wood is now back in the mix, and while senior types Jarrad Waite and Ben Jacobs are still several weeks away, there's more good kids ready to have a crack in Ryan Clarke, Sam Durdin and Corey Wagner.
If there's one thing Scott should look at harder now, it's playing even more of their like and having the courage to drop some under-performing veterans. But this is a team playing much, much better than a 0-5 win-loss record would indicate. And while it's easy to parrot lines like you're only as good as the scoreboard, in North's case right now, that is patently untrue.