There were plenty of positives to take out of North Melbourne’s victory in Coffs Harbour on Sunday.
The players and coaches were pleased with the performance across the board, as several Kangaroos shared their thoughts on how they and the team got through their first game of 2017.
Jack Ziebell
“It’s the first chance against real opposition and obviously Sydney are a quality side. Both teams fielded fairly young squads but we couldn’t have asked for much more out of the hit-out.
“Looking at a few guys running out there today, Matt Taylor, Declan Watson, Nick Larkey, even Braydon Preuss, they’re all coming along in leaps and bounds.”
Shaun Atley
“It’s good to play against other opposition after we’ve spent the last four or five weeks playing against ourselves.
“It’s a bit of a different ground, this one. There’s about 15 metres between the 50 and the square.
“It was good to see a few young boys step up today. It’s good for those boys to get their opportunity and hopefully they take it.”
Nathan Hrovat
“It was pretty humid and pretty slippery, so it was different to Melbourne. It’s good to get the first win out of the way.
“It’s been good working with all the boys, I’ve been able to have a full pre-season so it’s always good to tick that off and then work into the JLT and hopefully the season proper.
“Hopefully we can get all those (forwards) on the park and we’ll be really strong up there.”
RELATED: Ziebell, Atley, Hrovat post-match
Ed Vickers-Willis
“Having been around the club for a while… to play on quality players first-up, it was such a good challenge for me and I really enjoyed the game.
“I just focused on what makes me a good player. It’s a lot quicker and you notice when they get out the back it really heats up.
“Full minutes for us (the back line), which was great. (We were) a young, inexperienced defence but we played to the structures and really stopped Sydney’s flow at times.”
RELATED: Vickers-Willis post-match
Declan Mountford
“That’s one of the biggest things in place this year, a lot of team bonding.
“I think it’s carried through on to the field and it feels like that when you play, everyone wants to play for each other which is pretty important.
“It’s good for the team morale (to win).”
RELATED: Mountford post-match
