North Melbourne’s two-game winning run came to an end as Sydney dictated terms at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
It was one of the main discussion points in Brad Scott’s post-match media conference, with a number of topics also touched on.
RELATED: Brad Scott’s media conference transcript
Controlling the game
“It’s pretty simple really. Sometimes the game’s not, there’s a fair bit of nuance involved but today was simple.
“We just got obliterated around the ball, in contested possession, and then allowed Sydney to control it.
“There were only a few patches of the game we were able to play the game the way we wanted it to be played, and the rest – Sydney to their credit set it up well – won the ball in the contest and then dictated terms.”
A feature of North’s win against Adelaide was the Roos’ ability to control the game.
It was the opposite against the Swans, with the visitors able to play the game on their terms.
North ended with 98 fewer disposals (435-337), 56 fewer marks (117-61) and almost nine less minutes in possession.
The forward line function
“Sydney put numbers behind the ball for large periods of the game and we certainly didn’t want to bomb the ball in there but we did on too many occasions.
“A bit of it was the forward line but a fair bit of it was the way it was going in. Lachie looked ok early and looked pretty dangerous but our forwards didn’t get a look at it today.”
“Sydney are a counter-attacking team. We did push our numbers forward and Reid kept dropping further back.
“We pushed them forward, we didn’t sit back. Some of it was just some mistakes on our behalf, sometimes we didn’t do what we wanted to do. At times we had seven forwards.”
In the absence of the suspended Jarrad Waite, Lachlan Hansen was shifted forward with Sam Durdin coming into the side to play back.
The new-look forward line of Ben Brown, Hansen and Mason Wood had one of their quieter outings, but Scott had his eyes further up the field for the cause.
Of the Roos’ 49 inside 50’s, they maintained possession on less than half, well below their season average heading into Sunday.
A series of long kicks inside the 50 played into the Swans’ hands, with the Sydney defenders able to peel off their opponents and time their intercepts well.
Tarrant v Franklin
“Super. When I said it (the result) could have been a lot worse, Robbie Tarrant kept it semi-respectable. It was a really dominant performance I thought.”
Tasked with the tough job of quelling Lance Franklin, Robbie Tarrant excelled.
The key defender drew high praise from Brad Scott for pushing the Swan higher up the ground and largely off the scoreboard.
Franklin kicked just one goal, and of his 21 disposals at 48 per cent efficiency, only four were in the forward 50.
