Last week: A return to form, thrashing St Kilda at the MCG
With Australia in the middle of Olympic fever, North Melbourne’s Friday night match against Melbourne at the MCG wasn’t televised on Channel 7.
What viewers missed was one of the all-time great individual performances from Wayne Carey.
The game was televised on Optus Vision, a pay-tv offering in its infancy and with a small reach. With the likes of Bruce McAvaney commentating in Atlanta for the Olympics, those who did gain access to the game were treated to the entertaining stylings of Rex Hunt and Malcolm Blight.
Right from the outset it was apparent Carey was in the mood for a big outing.
His first quarter featured three goals and several strong pack marks as Melbourne rotated an array of defenders through the Roos’ captain.
No-one was able to stop Carey, and he continued on his merry way as the night unfolded.
It was six goals to half-time and 10 to three-quarter-time, as Carey eventually finished with what would become a career-high 11.
In addition to his own goal tally, Carey also had a hand in several more, finishing with the astounding statistics of 31 disposals (22 kicks) and 15 marks.
“Few footballers have left their mark on the game in the 1990’s the way Wayne Carey has. But for all his greatness, there had yet to be a match in which he booted a double figure tally of goals. Last night was that night.
“Apart from his 11 goals, Carey finished the match with 22 kicks, 15 marks and 9 handballs. And he had a swag of mates ready and willing to stick it to the Demons.” – Ashley Browne, The Age
“First Shaun Smith, then David Neitz and finally Anthony Ingerson were powerless to combat Carey’s marking strength and goalkicking prowess.” – Bruce Matthews, Herald Sun
Funnily enough, both North and Melbourne finished with the same amount of individual goal kickers – seven. Yet the Roos had Corey McKernan (five) and Peter Bell (four) also running rampant close to home.
McKernan in particular was dominant. The same performance in just about any other match would have had him hailed as the unanimous best on ground. But on this night, a final tally of 23 disposals, 11 marks and five goals was only enough for two Brownlow votes.
Yet, because the majority of the country’s attention was on the Olympics, word was slow to filter out about the dominance of Carey against the Demons – until the working week resumed on Monday.
Name A Game reported receiving more than double their normal weekly orders, as fans scrambled to watch one of Carey’s best ever performances.
“Had Wayne Carey chosen to turn it on in just about any other Friday night in any other year, all of Melbourne and much of Australia would have been talking about it for several days afterwards. It wasn’t until the working week commenced yesterday, with its obligatory discussion about the weekend’s football, that talk of Carey’s outing started to surface.” – Ashley Browne, The Age
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Next week: A third consecutive Friday night game at the MCG, this one against Hawthorn
Round 17 v Melbourne
North Melbourne team changes
In: Gorman, Capuano
Out: Freeborn, Roberts
North Melbourne: 7.3.45, 13.9.87, 20.12.132, 28.15.183
Melbourne: 4.2.26, 6.3.39, 7.3.45, 11.4.70
Goals
North Melbourne: Carey 11, McKernan 5, Bell 4, M Stevens 3, Rock 2, Sholl 2, Capuano 1
Melbourne: Farmer 3, O’Brien 2, Stynes 2, Hopgood 1, Ingerson 1, Leoncelli 1, Tingay 1
Brownlow Medal
3 – Wayne Carey (North Melbourne), 2 – Corey McKernan (North Melbourne), 1 – Peter Bell (North Melbourne)
