When it comes to inside midfielders, there aren’t many better than North Melbourne’s Ben Cunnington and Sydney’s Josh Kennedy.
Rhyce Shaw has had the pleasure of playing with and coaching Kennedy, and in more recent times, got a close-up look at the ability of Cunnington, first as an assistant coach and now as interim senior coach.
As to who’s better, well his decision might be a little bit unpopular in the harbour city.
“That’s a tough one. I’ve had the privilege of seeing them both up close and they are two of the great clearance players of the modern era,” Shaw told The Mercury.
“I’ll have to back ‘Cunners’ in though ... ‘Joey’ (Kennedy) won’t be happy with me!”
North returns to Blundstone Arena on Sunday, and after his equal-lowest disposal tally in two years at the venue last time around, will no doubt be raring to go.
Likewise Jy Simpkin, who enjoyed a career-best outing last week against Collingwood. Shaw hopeful that performance only the beginning.
“Jy is a fantastic young man,” Shaw said.
“He is so driven in everything he does.
“He has put in a lot of work and for somebody so young to be so professional, it says a lot about where he wants to go as a footballer.
“Last week was a culmination of all that hard work, but it is only the beginning for him.
“He will want to back that up week-in, week-out knowing him.
“It was a super game (last week) and I know North supporters are excited about what the future holds for Jy as well.”
Shaw has led North to three wins from his first four games as coach, but says he hasn’t made revolutionary changes.
“The changes haven’t been too drastic, but we have certainly tightened up in a few areas and narrowed our focus,” he said.
“I like the defensive side of the game.
“Coming from a club (Sydney) that prided itself so much on defence, I have seen the results first-hand.
“Our group is a physical group and its pleasing to see them play in that manner over the past couple of weeks.
Although Sunday’s opponent St Kilda hasn’t been getting the results of late, the Roos are ready for a tight contest.
“The Saints are playing some pretty good football,” Shaw said.
“While they haven’t been getting the results, it is very clear to see the way they want to play.
“They have been pushing some very good sides right to the line and they will bring immense pressure for four quarters, so we have to be ready for a battle.”
With a dominant record at Blundstone Arena in recent years, it is somewhat of a surprise that the Roos have left Hobart empty-handed so far in 2019.
“We are really disappointed that we haven’t been able to show our loyal fans down here our best football,” Shaw said.
“We had a really tight tussle with Sydney, but left our run too late.
“Then we played GWS and it was another good game, but we just let a few things slip in the second half.
“We have to maintain our standards for as long as we can.
“We had an open training session at Blundstone yesterday and we hope to leave here with the four points this time around.”
