If there's one message to be taken out of a difficult 48 hours at Arden Street it's that football stops for nobody. No matter what's going on there's a game against tough opposition to prepare for this weekend. A Richmond side hell-bent on securing its finals place will meet the North Melbourne Kangaroos at Marvel on Saturday.

The Tigers, much like the Kangaroos, were left reeling as a result of a huge fourth-quarter comeback by their opposition. A goal in the final two minutes to former Tiger Mabior Chol and a goal after the siren for young star Noah Anderson left Richmond on the wrong side of a two-point margin. A loss they'll be keen to rectify.

For North Melbourne, last week's narrow defeat to Collingwood was David Noble's last as senior coach, with the club and Noble mutually parting ways on Tuesday. VFL coach and former Roo Leigh Adams has taken the reins for the remainder of the season.

A fresh start under Leigh Adams?

Whether it’s at the end of a season, the start of a pre-season or in the middle of a campaign, a change in coach is never ideal.

If there’s one major positive about the promotion of interim senior coach Leigh Adams it’s that he’s a genuine North Melbourne man who has grown and changed with the fabric of the club since he was drafted to Arden Street ahead of the 2008 season.

‘Patch’, as Adams is affectionately known, has already declared there won’t be wholesale changes in the last six games of the season but has indicated a desire to play a faster, more attacking brand of football.

He heads into the top job after leading the VFL side for the last two seasons and while the reserves have had on-field struggles of their own, there has been obvious improvement and a clear desire to take the game on throughout his tenure as VFL coach.

Adams has plenty of experience in coaching his own sides through his time at South Croydon, Coburg and now North’s VFL program. Hopefully he can prove his capability in the top job to fans, members and those in the wider AFL community.

A strong performance against Richmond this weekend would go a long way to showing that.

How much confidence can come from last week?

Last week’s loss to Collingwood hurt, there’s no doubting that. In fact, the quality of performance in the first three quarters of the game meant it possibly hurt more than any other defeat this season.

After weeks of flashes the Kangaroos finally played the football they've teased they're capable of. They were dominant in the midfield, hard at the contest and brilliantly effective in all areas of the ground for the first three quarters. It was a joy to behold.

It all unravelled in the final term though with Collingwood booting five goals to none to run out as seven-point winners, but the Kangaroos will certainly look to build on the confidence gained in the earlier stages of the game.

How much is Nick Larkey impacting games?

A simple fact of the Kangaroos’ 2022 season is they’ve struggled to consistently forge strong entries inside 50, a fact which makes the feats of Nick Larkey’s individual campaign all the more impressive.

So far this season he’s kicked 29 goals and 15 behinds at an average of 1.9 goals per game, the same average as he kicked in his breakout 2021 campaign that saw him finish strongly in both the Coleman Medal race and the Syd Barker Medal tally.

There are two ways to look at his behind count this season. His average of one behind per game is the highest of his, albeit young, career. His accuracy has suffered slightly in 2022 but it can be argued that he’s attempting more difficult shots on goal due to the lack of consistently high quality entries.

The positive of this is Larkey is attacking the goals more than ever before and is averaging just under three scoring shots per game. Despite the team’s struggles to give him the silver service he deserves he’s still finding ways to be a deadly goal threat.

It's no surprise that in the team's two best performances this season, Round 2 against West Coast and Round 17 against Collingwood, Larkey kicked a combined 11 goals and four behinds. 'Souv' getting among the goals is a strong indication of the side's overall performance.

His five goals last week against Collingwood showcased his potential when the ball is delivered to him nearly perfectly, and the Kangaroos will be hoping for a repeat performance this weekend.

Can the Roos rally together?

The removal of a coach from his position is never an enjoyable time for a football club. While the team has been struggling on the field at times this season there’s no doubting the effort, heart and soul David Noble put in during his time as senior coach of North Melbourne.

It’s times like these where the culture of a club comes to the fore. It’s difficult to define the Shinboner Spirit, but part of it has to be sticking by your mates, and your football club, during tough times.

With just six games remaining this season we’re in the final throes of what’s been a difficult and frustrating campaign, but it certainly hasn’t been without its highlights and shining moments.

Leigh Adams has already alluded to increased roles and responsibilities for a number of the club’s young players, so fans will be getting an early look into the exciting future of this club.

Kangaroos fans are some of the most vocal and passionate supporters in the AFL, and hopefully the North faithful can continue to use their voice to push the side onto bigger and better things.