Our MAJOR ISSUE

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May 24, 2005
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We have struggled for years because of the basic principle that our ability to effectively move the ball quickly and effectively on a regular basis is poor, and our ability to regularly * the oppositions ball movement, particularly off half-back, is poor. Until we change these two areas, we're going nowhere in a hurry.

Hall, Polec, Jack Z (when in the midfield), Cunners, Ahern, Dumont etc. provide zero defensive run through the midfield. Once the opposition is free with the ball, these guys lack the ability and/or will, to chase. Occasionally we get it right and we look great, but those games are few and far between.

I said it 10 years ago that we needed to draft pace & skill into the side, and yet we remain hell-bent on drafting key position players with our early picks & then drafting slow, inside mids with our later picks.

I am sensing some years of pain ahead which can only be corrected if we start targeting quick, skillful young talent in the draft.

I've had an absolute gutful.
 

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Mar 17, 2007
5,368
1,530
Melbourne
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North Melbourne
Just highlights the need for blokes in the midfield/defence that can hit targets. Of our recent draftees the only one I'd say in past memory that is an excellent kick was Mckenzie, but he was choc full of other deficiencies. Potentially LDU, although I wouldn't say his disposal is anything other than "above average". Either that or blokes that can take the game on, run 20-30m and then kick it long, at least mitigating the issue that we've seen in the past few weeks where we turn the ball over at the top of our 50, and then let other clubs torch us on the rebound.

Bringing in guys like Polec is a step in the right direction, but as it looks like we'll have a couple of top 8 or so picks this year, we really need to focus on getting 2 mids that can hit targets first and foremost. Pace is a function of how clean you can be accurately move the ball and make right decisions.
 
Aug 25, 2006
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Mount Waverley
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As a member and supporter I am sick of watching the same spuds give us the same s**t output.

Give me a kid that might not be ready but has the tools to make it any day over wasting games on list cloggers.

Put line through this year and focus heavily on finding and blooding players that might be a part of a side capable of winning a flag in a few years time.
 
Last edited:
Dec 27, 2017
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AFL Club
North Melbourne
You must've missed the last draft that just passed Pumpkin. :stern look


The one where we traded our first pick? Brought in Perez, Comben, Mahony and brought in Boner & Walker.

Who knows what we’ll do with our two first round picks this year.

The draft before we took Tarryn Thomas with our first.

Before that was LDU

Before that it’s was Simpkin.

All mids with a lot of upside.
 
Oct 16, 2004
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Our major issue is that we still have senior players that are ******* crap getting games.

Many years from now, younger supporters will look at the bloke's career - first round draft pick, 200+ games, in the side week-in week-out for more than 10 years, never got dropped, no serious thought of ever trading - and think "He must have been a super-consistent, super-reliable, strong on field presence and quality player. I wish I'd have seen Shaun Atley play."

And us old-timers will roll our eyes and mutter, "F**kin' Jesus. This club wasted 10 years of its existence."
 
Sep 21, 2004
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Many years from now, younger supporters will look at the bloke's career - 200+ games, in the side week-in week-out, never got dropped, no serious thought of ever trading - at think "He must have been a super-consistent, super-reliable, strong on field presence and quality player. I wish I'd have seen Shaun Atley play."

This younger supporter may then look up a youtube video. "Wow, look at how quick he is. And he just broke through that tackle like he wasn't even there".
 
The one where we traded our first pick? Brought in Perez, Comben, Mahony and brought in Boner & Walker.

Who knows what we’ll do with our two first round picks this year.

The draft before we took Tarryn Thomas with our first.

Before that was LDU

Before that it’s was Simpkin.

All mids with a lot of upside.
Lewis was still there when we picked up Simpkin and my thouces tell me he pushed hard for his recruitment. But still your point is valid with Jy. He was the right call.

The LDU draft is interesting. The top end has not jumped out and captured the competition by storm. We could do with Stephenson’s bag of tricks at the minute however. :stern look

Bonar was also in that draft as a high pick. Hayden’s recruitment is looking good in the 60’s. Xerri also from that draft. Hopefully Walker can come on now that he is over his injury concerns.

No doubt our draft in picking up Thomas, Scott and Taylor including the recruitment of Polec and Pittard is looking very good.

But yeah we went back to recruiting a tall bloke with our first pick in the last draft. Comben is quick for his size and there is a lot to like about him. Hopefully he becomes a star. But did we really need to recruit another tall guy? Perez for mine suited a need most from the 3 draft selections we made in 2019 and he was our last pick. :stern look
 

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Oct 16, 2004
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This younger supporter may then look up a youtube video. "Wow, look at how quick he is. And he just broke through that tackle like he wasn't even there".

I assume this YouTube clip ends just before Atley kicks the ball to the wrong option, missing that target anyway and turning the ball over for a simple opposition goal?
 

GarnerSmash

They tried to make me go to rehab
10k Posts Ex-Moderator North Melbourne - 2015 Daw & MacMillan Player Sponsor North Melbourne - 2014 Daw, Black, Gibson Player Sponsor North Melbourne - 2013 Daw, Black and Gibson Player Sponsorship North Melbourne - North 2012 Player Sponsor North Melbourne - North 2011 Player Sponsor North Melbourne - North 2010 Player Sponsor
Jun 2, 2009
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Its gonna be a tough 3-5 years. Need get the job done at the draft.
 
Oct 16, 2004
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Lewis was still there when we picked up Simpkin and my thouces tell me he pushed hard for his recruitment. But still your point is valid with Jy. He was the right call.

The LDU draft is interesting. The top end has not jumped out and captured the competition by storm. We could do with Stephenson’s bag of tricks at the minute however. :stern look

Bonar was also in that draft as a high pick. Hayden’s recruitment is looking good in the 60’s. Xerri also from that draft. Hopefully Walker can come on now that he is over his injury concerns.

No doubt our draft in picking up Thomas, Scott and Taylor including the recruitment of Polec and Pittard is looking very good.

But yeah we went back to recruiting a tall bloke with our first pick in the last draft. Comben is quick for his size and there is a lot to like about him. Hopefully he becomes a star. But did we really need to recruit another tall guy? Perez for mine suited a need most from the 3 draft selections we made in 2019 and he was our last pick. :stern look

It's a small bag. Flash into a game early on, do something OK, and then go missing for so long you can't even recall that he was playing. But yeah, he'd get a game and be useful for us.
 
It's a small bag. Flash into a game early on, do something OK, and then go missing for so long you can't even recall that he was playing. But yeah, he'd get a game and be useful for us.
No doubt our development would’ve set him straight. :stern look
 

bengrina

Club Legend
Aug 29, 2012
2,177
4,678
West Baltimore
AFL Club
North Melbourne
As a member and supporter I am sick of watching the same spuds give us the same sh*t output.

Give me a kid that might not be ready but has the tools to make it any day over wasting games on list cloggers.

Put line through this year and focus heavily on finding and blooding players that might be a part of a side capable of winning a flag in a few years time.

I am just as frustrated as everyone else re our performance but to 'put a line through this year?' 3 weeks ago we were going to play in a grand final. If we win our next 2 will be back in the mix. I hope our players don't share the same views
 
I am just as frustrated as everyone else re our performance but to 'put a line through this year?' 3 weeks ago we were going to play in a grand final. If we win our next 2 will be back in the mix. I hope our players don't share the same views
You make a fair point Ben. It ain’t as bad as what it seems. Just like when we beat the GWS. It wasn’t as good as what it seems. The last three weeks have certainly highlighted our weaknesses. We are simply not utilising our strengths at the minute. :stern look
 
We have struggled for years because of the basic principle that our ability to effectively move the ball quickly and effectively on a regular basis is poor, and our ability to regularly ****** the oppositions ball movement, particularly off half-back, is poor. Until we change these two areas, we're going nowhere in a hurry.

Hall, Polec, Jack Z (when in the midfield), Cunners, Ahern, Dumont etc. provide zero defensive run through the midfield. Once the opposition is free with the ball, these guys lack the ability and/or will, to chase. Occasionally we get it right and we look great, but those games are few and far between.

I said it 10 years ago that we needed to draft pace & skill into the side, and yet we remain hell-bent on drafting key position players with our early picks & then drafting slow, inside mids with our later picks.

I am sensing some years of pain ahead which can only be corrected if we start targeting quick, skillful young talent in the draft.

I've had an absolute gutful.
I’m sure all the teams with picks before us are just going to ignore the kids with pace and skill so we can pick them up.
 
Sep 11, 2014
10,432
20,244
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Issue is we need to be the hunter not the hunted.

Once the opposition is at another level of pressure, our players turn to turnover butter.

We need to be training “skills under pressure”. Needs to be our number one priority as it’s been a issue for years as we’ve never done much skills training at all anyways
 

bengrina

Club Legend
Aug 29, 2012
2,177
4,678
West Baltimore
AFL Club
North Melbourne
You make a fair point Ben. It ain’t as bad as what it seems. Just like when we beat the GWS. It wasn’t as good as what it seems. The last three weeks have certainly highlighted our weaknesses. We are simply not utilising our strengths at the minute. :stern look

I appreciate that we are all frustrated with how the team is playing but there's a lot of educated people on this board yet we seem to jump from one extreme to another. Literally 3 weeks ago I was reading on here that we were likely to be playing in a flag. Fast forward 2 weeks and we are now playing for draft picks. My personal opinion is that we have been mediocre for far too long. I'm almost starting to wonder whether we may be losing the fabric to what the club has been known for for so long. Other clubs used to respect us as they always knew no matter what side we put on the park , we'd give a contest. I don't know if its the modern game but I just don't have the same love for the game I once had. Every decision the afl makes is manipulated in a fashion that benefits the revenue. Whether that be handing franchise clubs every possible concession imaginable or fixing the draw to give clubs like collingwood and richmond every opportunity to succeed.
I love north but I hate what the game has become
 
Apr 1, 2008
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North Melbourne
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Not polished enough moving the ball forward. There are players that occupy important offensive positions that can not consistently kick/handball advantageously to teammate.

That invites pressure, gives the receiver less time to select an option and invariably leads to a turnover.

Which leads to: lack of ability to force a turnover.
 

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