The Kangaroos’ biggest crowd in 15 years - 78,559, was witness to a famous victory.
“The crowd out there was mental. It was pretty crazy stuff,” Ben Brown said after the game.
“When you kick a goal you just hear the crowd roar, and it’s just something completely different than what I’ve ever experienced.
“It felt like the ground was shaking.”
The last time North played in front of more than 75,000 was in 2007 for a Qualifying Final loss against Geelong (77,630).
You have to go back to 1999 and the club’s fourth premiership to find a more impressive turnout; 94,228 were there as the Kangaroos smashed Carlton at the MCG.
Ten Grand Final appearances sit at the top of the club’s highest crowd list but after that, only the 1974 Preliminary Final against Hawthorn (88,262), the 1979 Qualifying Final (84,660) and 1980 Elimination Final (82,952) against Collingwood and the 1994 Preliminary Final against Geelong (80,121) have eclipsed Saturday night’s effort.
It’s a remarkable achievement when you consider North has played a total of 1870 games since its inception into the VFL in 1925.
113,839 - North Melbourne v Richmond - MCG. GF,1974
110,551 - Hawthorn v North Melbourne - MCG. GF,1975
110,143 - Hawthorn v North Melbourne - MCG. GF,1976
108,224 - North Melbourne v Collingwood - MCG. GF,1977
101,704 - Hawthorn v North Melbourne - MCG. GF,1978
98,366 - North Melbourne v Collingwood - MCG. GF,1977
94,431 - North Melbourne v Adelaide - MCG. GF,1998
94,228 - Kangaroos v Carlton - MCG. GF,1999 41971
93,102 - North Melbourne v Sydney - MCG. GF,1996
88,262 - Hawthorn v North Melbourne - MCG. PF,1974
87,601 - North Melbourne v Essendon - MCG. GF,1950
84,660 - North Melbourne v Collingwood - MCG. QF,1979
82,952 - North Melbourne v Collingwood - MCG. EF,198
80,121 - North Melbourne v Geelong - MCG. PF,1994
78,559 - North Melbourne v Essendon - MCG. EF,2014
