Match result


North Melbourne 11.9.75 def. Box Hill Hawks 10.13.73


Player stats

AFL-listed
Nathan Hrovat (37 disposals), Jed Anderson (25 disposals, 12 tackles), Tom Campbell (24 disposals, 32 hit-outs), Joel Crocker (21 disposals), Lachie Hosie (15 disposals, 1 goal), Tom Murphy (15 disposals), Declan Watson (11 disposals), Tristan Xerri (10 disposals, 12 hit-outs), Ben McKay (9 disposals), Tom Wilkinson (8 disposals, 2 goals), Red Og Murphy (4 disposals, 1 goal), Curtis Taylor (4 disposals, 1 goal), Sam Wright (4 disposals)



VFL-listed
Nash Holmes (22 disposals, 2 goals), Chris Jansen (19 disposals), Ryan Morrison (17 disposals), Ty Leonardis (16 disposals), Brodie McLaughlin (16 disposals), Nick Rippon (15 disposals), Riley Verbi (12 disposals, 1 goal), Louis Cunningham (10 disposals), Cameron Hodges (10 disposals)



Recap

Fan favourite Sam Wright was farewelled in style as North Melbourne’s VFL side scored a memorable two-point win over reigning premiers Box Hill.


The North faithful came out in big numbers to support the popular 29-year-old, who played his final game in front of friends and family at Arden Street after a celebrated 136-game AFL career.


A fiercely contested opening term set the tone for the day as both sides traded goals until the first break, with the visitors holding a slight seven-point lead at quarter time.

The deficit was extended in the second term as the Roos were kept goalless, limited to just four points as the Hawks piled on the pressure.

Playing forward for the bulk of his shift, things took a turn for the worst as Wright pulled up tight, injuring his hamstring in an attempt to beat Jarryd Roughead to the footy.

He was greeted by a standing applause as he left the field, with his day concluding due to injury.

Faced with a five-goal buffer at the last change, the Roos were implored to be better by senior coach David Loader, with a remarkable turn of events set to follow.

The final term produced six consecutive goals as North not only doubled its goal tally, but restricted the Hawks to five behinds in a thrilling finale.

VFL-listed Nash Holmes proved to be the hero, booting two goals in the fourth quarter, with his last coming with just over two minutes remaining.

Tom Campbell was again amongst the best performed, winning his ruck dual for the bulk of the day, including 32 hit-outs in tandem with Tristan Xerri, who tallied 10 hit-outs of his own.

Nathan Hrovat was lively in and around North’s forward six, creating a slew of goal-scoring opportunities, despite not impacting the scoreboard himself.

In defence, Joel Crocker put in an equally impressive display, offering run as a rebound defender, highlighting his steady development at state level.

What the coach said


“It was wonderful to send ‘Wrighty’ off with a win,” senior coach David Loader told North Media.

“It was a really important weekend for our footy club. To come from five goals down at three quarter time when we’d only kicked five for the day was great to see.

“The win was really good, we showed some real Shinboner Spirit, I was really pleased with that. It was along the lines of us knowing that we had to play better this week.

“We love playing footy at Arden Street and we want to keep winning games here. We’ve got to have a good mix between our AFL-listed and VFL-listed players and we got that today.

“There’s a fair bit of learning to come out of that. When there’s such a special player like ‘Sammy’ retiring, everyone wants to do the best they can for him.

“It’s a brutal game and it wasn’t ideal for him to finish the way he did, but he’d be happy for us to get a win and for him to play in front of his family.”

Best of AFL



Jed Anderson


The strongly-built veteran provided a physical presence around the stoppages, dominating with his impressive output, which included an imposing 25 possessions and 12 tackles.

 Deployed in a midfield role, Anderson was among the best performed wearing royal blue and white stripes.

“It makes a big difference having someone like Jed,” Loader added.


“He gave us balance around the stoppages. We always knew that he was going to be brutal in the contests, which he was today.

“Any time you can get someone back with his experience, it certainly helps. It was like that today where we had him back in the midfield.”

Best of VFL

Ryan Morrison
The hard-working swingman has been one of the feel-good stories of 2019.

Morrison has fulfilled roles on both sides of the ground, showing an ability to not only hit the scoreboard, but also provide an aerial option in defence, as he did on Saturday afternoon.

“He did a lot of good things,” Loader said. 

“Ryan works really hard and tries to play to our method. He’s a good, tough kid, so there’s a lot to like about him.



“I think Ryan is going to have a really good future if he continues to work at his craft.”

View this post on Instagram

After 11 years, I was able to run out one last time in the blue and white surrounded by the people who matter most to me. Thank you to my family, Nicola, friends, coaches and teammates for all of your support over the years through both the highs and the lows that I’ve experienced along the way. I’ve made so many life long friends through teammates and staff and I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity that North Melbourne has given me. Lastly to all the north faithful, friends and everyone who has sent me messages of support this week and been along the journey with me, it hasn’t gone unnoticed and I can’t thank you all enough!

A post shared by Sam Wright (@sam_wright19) on Aug 4, 2019 at 2:37am PDT