There was a time when a quiet game for Brent Harvey was considered detrimental to the chances of a Kangaroos’ win, but Allison says the club’s list is becoming more mature.
“The pleasing thing for us is we’re not relying on the Harvey’s and (Drew) Petrie’s and (Daniel) Wells’ anymore to win us games,” he told the SEN team.
“We’ve got quite a few players now who are putting their hand up and making their mark on games, so we don’t need those blokes to best on ground for us anymore.”
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Aaron Mullett has been one of the players to stand up and his rapid emergence as an attacking defender has been a surprise.
“The one I think that’s come on the most, and probably surprised me a little bit, is Mullett across half-back.
“I’ve seen him be able to play on our own forwards in our match practice and training. He did a really good job… I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do it against the small forwards of opposition teams, but he’s had a super season for us.
“With him and Shaun Atley back there playing on those small, dangerous forwards, not only just shutting them down but still being able to give us some run and drive from the back-line, it’s been something that’s been really pleasing for us during this season.”
The importance of stopping the opposition’s dangerous midfielders can’t be understated, and former Sun Taylor Hine has excelled, most recently against Tiger Brett Deledio.
“He’s (Hine) a really competitive kid. He loves contests, hates getting beaten. He’s probably the perfect type of player to play those (tagging) roles,” Allison added.
“He’s been doing really well and been a real bonus for us in those areas of the game.”
While North was back on the winner’s list against Richmond, talk of finals is far from the mind of those in the inner sanctum.
“We’re just trying to get the ledger back to even. We’re just trying to get to eight (wins) and eight (losses), and then if we can get to there, it gives us a chance of pushing on.
“We are playing some very good sides in the last four or five weeks of the season, and if we are able to get there we’ll have deserved it, and we probably would have been in some pretty good form going in.”
