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NORTH Melbourne has consolidated its hold on eighth spot with a commanding 54-point win over Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
North never looked like losing after jumping to a 33-point lead after the opening 20 minutes but the Demons showed some fight in former skipper Brad Green's 250th game to go down 19.13 (127) to 11.7 (73).
North's win was its 10th in a row against Melbourne but it may come at a price after Leigh Adams (left shoulder; his right shoulder was injured in the Chris Judd 'chicken wing' tackle) was injured in the third quarter and did not take any further part in the game.
Just minutes earlier, 100th gamer Scott McMahon was substituted out of the game with soreness. But North coach Brad Scott said after the match North had no concerns about McMahon's fitness, with his substitution purely a load-management measure.
And Lindsay Thomas' bump on Demons defender Daniel Nicholson early in the third quarter, in which the small forward's shoulder appeared to make contact with Nicholson's head, may attract the attention of the Match Review Panel.
Nicholson took some time to regain his feet after the incident but he quickly recovered and played out the rest of the game.
But otherwise it was a good afternoon's work for the emerging Kangaroos team, with former skipper Brent Harvey, 34, leading from the front in an outstanding hard-running display that included a pin-point 60m torpedo pass in the third term.
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North's win was built on its dominance in the midfield, where Harvey, Andrew Swallow, Ryan Bastinac, Daniel Wells and Sam Gibson were prolific. Swallow also laid a remarkable 17 tackles, just two fewer than Sydney Swan Jude Bolton's record set against West Coast in round three last season and nine more than any other player in Saturday's match.
Admittedly, North's midfielders enjoyed good service at stoppages from Todd Goldstein, who dominated Melbourne's inexperienced ruck combination of Stefan Martin and Jake Spencer.
Up forward, Drew Petrie was constantly double-teamed but worked hard to finish with four goals, while making life considerably easier for fellow tall Robbie Tarrant (four goals).
After the game, Scott said his team's performance had been good, but stressed there was room for improvement.
"Some periods of play at the start of the game and the start of the third [quarter] were quite outstanding," Scott said.
"All in all [it was] a good performance, but [there are] still some things that are a little frustrating that we need to continue to work on.
"After the start we had, Melbourne made some alterations to their defence which made the game probably a little bit ugly at times, but I thought our ability to adapt to that and to adjust was really pleasing."
For the Demons, Nathan Jones and Brent Moloney provided resistance in the midfield, while Green made the most of his opportunities up forward to finish with three goals.
Melbourne coach Mark Neeld was pleased with his team's second and final quarters, but delivered a stern message to his players at three-quarter time after a third quarter that was "below AFL standard".
"They're pretty slick, the Kangaroos. They move the ball too quick for us to handle at this stage, but that's OK, that's where we're at," Neeld said after the match.
"We felt our effort in the first quarter was pretty good in a number of indicators ... At quarter-time I reckon there would have been a few people at the ground thinking it was going to be a 120-point loss here - I reckon they've seen it before - and it wasn't.
"I thought in the second quarter we dug pretty deep.
"The third quarter was below AFL standard. We need to eradicate that as a footy club. We've got a young group ... as long as the core of the group remain together [they'll] understand that 75 per cent won't get the job done."
North opened the game in dominant fashion primarily through its dominance at stoppages and quick and clean ball movement.
The Demons did not score until nearly 19 minutes had elapsed and did not score their first goal until the 22-minute mark, through Colin Sylvia.
The Roos led by 26 points at quarter-time, but their ball movement stagnated in the second quarter when the Demons constantly flooded numbers back into their defensive 50.
Both teams enjoyed momentum runs at various stages during the term, with the Demons kicking the last two goals to cut North's lead to 25 points at half-time.
But North put the result beyond doubt when it kicked the first five goals of the third term.
VIDEO: Tarrant after the siren | Join in the Chorus! | Match highlights | Thomas great snap | Harvey steal and goal | Anthony from long range | Scott press conference | Adams hurts shoulder | Post-match interviews | Matt Campbell interview
North Melbourne 5.4 9.6 15.10 19.13 (127)
Melbourne 1.2 5.5 7.5 11.7 (73)
GOALS?
North Melbourne: Petrie 4, Tarrant 4, Adams 2, Thomas 2, Harvey 2, Bastinac, Macmillan, Anthony, Swallow, Harper
Melbourne: Green 3, Sylvia 3, Blease, Howe, Garland, Martin, Jones
BEST
North Melbourne: Harvey, Gibson, Wells, Cunnington, Swallow, Goldstein, Atley
Melbourne: Jones, Green, Moloney, Howe, Macdonald
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Adams (shoulder), McMahon (soreness)
Melbourne: Nil
SUBSTITUTES?
North Melbourne: Scott McMahon (soreness) substituted for Matt Campbell in the third quarter?
Melbourne: Neville Jetta substituted for James Strauss in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: McBurney, Armstrong, Harris
Official crowd: 20,816 at Etihad Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.
