A pre-season which featured a number of new names in the North Melbourne backline has Brad Green enthused about the side’s depth.
Complementing the foundation of Robbie Tarrant, Scott Thompson, Jamie Macmillan and company were promising signs from the likes of Ed Vickers-Willis, Sam Durdin and new Roo Marley Williams.
A couple of youngsters – Declan Watson and Matthew Taylor – also looked comfortable against Sydney in Coffs Harbour.
“We’ve got great depth in our talls and smalls,” Green told NMFC.com.au.
“That’s one aspect I think we have down there with our backline group and they’re pretty versatile with how they play.
“The depth that we’ve got is certainly going to make our job harder with selection.
“It’s going to be quite tough, they all deserve opportunities and deserve to play because they’ve been tremendous over the pre-season.”
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Going into 2017, it appears North’s core of defenders will still be the same, with some new faces added into the mix.
“Our core group of five or six that we have down there is still fairly experienced and well rounded,” Green said.
“The most pleasing thing we’ve got out of this pre-season is the Vickers-Willis, Durdin types, they’ve impressed.
“We’ve got Marley Williams from Collingwood, so we’ll still have a bit of sameness but we’ll be a bit different as well.”
Just as important as the back six is the way the entire team defends.
In many ways, the efforts of the midfielders and forwards without the ball determine how the defenders will fare.
Stopping the opposition transitioning the ball quickly from one end of the ground to another is a main focus.
It was carried out well in the first fortnight of the JLT Series, reflected in how little Sydney and Hawthorn were able to turn rebound 50’s into inside 50’s of their own.
“That certainly helps our back six, if the guys up the ground can defend the ball and bring it outside,” Green explained.
“The more pressure the forwards and the midfielders put on, it makes the defenders’ lives easier.
“We’ve done a whole heap of team defence and forward half defence work this pre-season.”
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‘Bringing the ball outside’ means keeping the ball away from the corridor; the more often North can do that, the less likely an opposition can find a quality inside 50 entry.
It requires an entire team input.
“We don’t really classify it as a back six, it’s an 18-man defence that defends the ball all over the ground,” Green said.
“The coaching staff has put a lot of time in with the way we defend the ball, it doesn’t matter where it is on the field.
“The way we defend the ball, we do with method that we know.”
Having had months to prepare for Round 1, the defenders are raring to go, with the coaching staff as prepared as possible.
“Everyone does a lot of homework and analysis on how the opposition plays, in that way Round 1 is no different to Round 12,” Green said.
“We try to do the same stuff that we do week to week, but you’ve just had a little bit longer to look over and prepare, that’s the only thing different.”
“Our boys are looking forward to it; it’s been a long pre-season.”
