Review Round 9, 2025 - North Melbourne vs. Brisbane Lions

[Ceebee]

Tasmania is a problem.

Forget this wear the singlet and tough it out crap.

Next tassie game issue long sleeve for everyone and get the points.

It actually wasn’t that cold there last night .

 

[Ceebee]

North were good and credit to them. They were up for it and we switched off once we were 20 up at half time. Our boys just thought we could go through the motions and walk it out. Unfortunately, that also combined with North kicking two early goals in the third and then getting every possible free and 50/50 call.

There were some absolutely gobsmacking umpiring decisions in that fourth quarter which really helped them and kept stopping us from being able to get upfield. Given just how one way the umpiring got, we did well to get a draw.

The one where Zorks nearly got his head pulled off and didn’t get the free was right in front of us .Some of the decisions in that last quarter were very pro North .

 

[dlanod]

Win some/any clearances in the second half and we win that game. Hippy and Cam were doing damage when the ball got to them. Logan might also got a free kick eventually with some more contests...

Charlie might dispute that last one.

 

[Sunny Land]

Xerri is the form ruckman in the competition and I can understand the plan to bring in Fort to give Oscar some assistance, particularly with Gawn the opponent next week. It does show why the coach has been reluctant to play both in the same team. I would love to see Gallop come into the team next week but I am not keen to see him rucking against Gawn. I also wouldn’t risk Hippie at any centre bounces. Maybe Oscar could take all the centre bounces and then play a kick behind the play.

Xerri was unbeatable yesterday. Oscar looked intimidated and didn't look like winning a ball up anywhere around the ground. Never seen Oscar beated like that ever. Only 1 mark and 5 disposals. WOW. Up against Gawn this week so will be interesting how that all plays out and what the strategy is for the rucking duties.

 

[braddsey]

Realise he's still very young and inexperienced, but we desperately need a tall forward to put more pressure on defences. That said, he was unlucky not to be paid the mark at the end which was clear.

Logan’s pressure was good. He had a couple of great tackles in the F50 where he was a bit stiff not to get awarded HTB.
That said, it’s clear we are thin in tall forward stocks which shows the need be chasing Oscar Allen or Mitch Lewis (or some other proven forward we can pry out of another team). We have young guys with potential to develop - but we can’t be relying on them immediately.

 

[Gadzorks]

Thanks for the tag young Nunez.

I as coach have to take full accountability for the loss.

In an effort to get our percentage up, I told the boys to “give me a result that makes opposition percentage irrelevant at the end of the year”

They clearly misinterpreted the instruction and here we are this evening with this result.

Fagan as ever the most canny tactical coach in the comp.

 

[Gadzorks]

It actually wasn’t that cold there last night .

You live there? Less than 15 is bloody cold for Queenslanders.

 

[braddsey]

Ashcrofts need to work on the defensive side of the game, a bit to much down hill skiing.

You’ve got to cut Will some slack, he is the older brother so is used to only doing all the fun stuff. Levi has a stronger defensive game because he had to fight for everything being the second born Ashcroft.

I’m a 2nd child. Never once in my life did i get to open the batting in backyard cricket and had to bowl my way to the crease. It just comes with the territory.

 

[3KZ is Football]

That was pathetic by Harris and I'm sure he'll reflect on that. Got pinged and then wanted to have a huge sook that cost us a goal at a pivotal point of the game.

Arrogance that we thought we were going to win it anyway.

As Captain that was a big fail.

Nonetheless he played better than most and he was frustrated the ball got kicked to him. But he wouldn't have done that against the Pies or Geelong.

That is where Football IQ come into the equation. Harris leads at Payne, drags a forward with him and opens up space behind him. Payne doesn’t get it and not only decides to kick it to Andrews, but then butchers the execution. Goal North Melbourne. People are really glossing over that very costly clanger. If Gardiner, Lester or Answerth had done the same thing, people would be going mental. If Payne has the ball in hand after a mark, then he really needs to go long down the line.

Moving forward, what that passage of play highlights is that in terms of defensive structure, Payne’s number one job (and one his is really good at) is to spoil, intercept mark, apply physical pressure at contests and drop back to fill space. At no stage when we are trying to transition out of defense, especially in big games and tight contests, should the ball be in his hands. That responsibility should rest with Zorko, Lester, Fletcher, Answerth and Wilmot. Getting Starcevich and Coleman back into the Seniors will help in this regard, because on occasion Wilmot and Answerth don’t inspire the utmost confidence.

P.S. Perhaps Andrews could use this as a ‘teachable moment’ and explain to Payne that while he is leading towards him, he doesn’t actually want the ball.

 

[Ceebee]

You live there? Less than 15 is bloody cold for Queenslanders.

I am a Queenslander .

 

[Sunny Land]

You live there? Less than 15 is bloody cold for Queenslanders.

Players say it wasn't a factor.

 

[Cockliff38]

Thought the defence held up pretty well, it wasn't until the fourth quarter where Harris lost a couple of one-on-ones.

This one is on team selection and a poor showing in the middle; dominated in the ruck and at ground level. North walked through tackles, and our mids often waited around the edges of the contest instead of attacking the ball. Won't be a pretty review for WAsh.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Thought the defence held up pretty well, it wasn't until the fourth quarter where Harris lost a couple of one-on-ones.

This one is on team selection and a poor showing in the middle; dominated in the ruck and at ground level. North walked through tackles, and our mids often waited around the edges of the contest instead of attacking the ball. Won't be a pretty review for WAsh.

The defensive side doesn't seem to come naturally for Will. Hadn't for Clug for quite a while either but he's found consistency

 

[dlanod]

At risk of reopening a can of worms...

"Slow as a wet week" dates back to at least 1923 and has plenty examples over following decades.

"Slow as a wet wig" appears to be a local variant in some parts of Queensland based off a mishearing of the original saying and never made common usage.

(The original saying that was appearing more often from the 1890s and on was "slow as a wet Christmas"!)

 

[Sunny Land]

The defensive side doesn't seem to come naturally for Will. Hadn't for Clug for quite a while either but he's found consistency

They both run hard to make space to get cheapies but dont put in the same effort when the 1-2%ers are required. That will come and like you say: Hughie was guilty of it when he first started out also and now he's great in defensive mode.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Ashcroft 26 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles. Had equal tackles with Neale (equal 4th most for us) and much more of the ball. What exactly about this result is his fault?

 

[Happy_Neale]

At risk of reopening a can of worms...

"Slow as a wet week" dates back to at least 1923 and has plenty examples over following decades.

"Slow as a wet wig" appears to be a local variant in some parts of Queensland based off a mishearing of the original saying and never made common usage.

(The original saying that was appearing more often from the 1890s and on was "slow as a wet Christmas"!)

Wouldn’t a wet wig travel faster than a dry one?

 

[Better Loosen Up]

It was similar Archer in the way that he recklessly went into the Berry as the mark was being taken. Both weren't even in the contest. I also was surprised that McDonald passed an HIA after that kind of contact.

You have to have a brain in the first place to fail a HIA.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Reading the reactions from North fans reminds me of the 2013-3017 years where we saw these results as a massive win. Funny being on the other side of it when you can see it took us playing an absolute shocker and them playing out of their skin (with some other factors going their way) just to get that close. All part of the journey I suppose.

 

[Sunny Land]

Ashcroft 26 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles. Had equal tackles with Neale and much more of the ball. What exactly about this result is his fault?

Understandably, any critisisms of the Ashcrofts on BF are not well received by many. Lachie was well beaten yesterday and he had mates with the same rating. I'm confident this week they will bounce back with a bang.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Understandably, any critisisms of the Ashcrofts on BF are not well received by many. Lachie was well beaten yesterday and he had mates with the same rating. I'm confident this week they will bounce back with a bang.

Midfield as a unit was down, thought Hugh and Dunkley were our best Mids by a fair margin. Would have put Will in the next bracket as I thought he did some nice things. Probably a less noticeable game from him overall. Just didn’t have enough winners on the day

 

[Nunez]

Midfield as a unit was down, thought Hugh and Dunkley were our best by a fair margin. Would have put Will in the next bracket as I thought he did some nice things. Probably a less noticeable game from him overall. Just didn’t have enough winners on the day

Thought Will had a good first half and non existent second.

Felt like replacing Berry with Gardiner also messed with our structure a fair bit.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Thought Will had a good first half and non existent second.

Felt like replacing Berry with Gardiner also messed with our structure a fair bit.

Last quarter was definitely quiet from Wash. Looked like Gardiner was playing right up the ground once he came on? Plan must have been to play Fort/O up forward when not rucking. All three of them were non-existent

 

[CarterS]

Good news is that our % doesn't matter any more really.

 

[p4p1]

Xerri is the form ruckman in the competition and I can understand the plan to bring in Fort to give Oscar some assistance, particularly with Gawn the opponent next week. It does show why the coach has been reluctant to play both in the same team. I would love to see Gallop come into the team next week but I am not keen to see him rucking against Gawn. I also wouldn’t risk Hippie at any centre bounces. Maybe Oscar could take all the centre bounces and then play a kick behind the play.

I'm not sure why people are talking about Gallop rucking against Gawn. I am probably wrong but I don't remember Daniher being at a CB against Gawn. Oscar is on when Gawn is on, when Gawn is off the field for a rest that is when Gallop or Hippy do ruck work.