A dominant third quarter display in which North kicked five consecutive goals helped set up a 37-point win over Richmond on Friday night.
North’s forward pressure was relentless, laying 72 tackles for the game, with Cam Zurhaar leading the way with 11.
However, arguably the most impressive thing about the victory was how the team dug deep to get a result after a tough week.
Jed Anderson - North Media
“As a group we focus on being hard and clean.
“We dug in and stuck together, worked hard on the inside, got the ball forward and kicked a good score to win the game.
“We’ve shown that we can match it with the best teams out there.
“We all dug deep tonight, worked well in our lines and came out with the win.”
Jack Ziebell - ABC Grandstand
“The way we wanted to go about it today was to take away that bit of run (from the Tigers) … I thought our boys were outstanding in trying to stop that and being able to turn the ball over in our forward half off the back of that is really important.
“It’s nice to see the boys get a bit of reward for effort.
“It was a good performance and we did what we aimed to do, but it’s important to know that our challenge now is consistency.”
Mason Wood - ABC Grandstand
“We have shown signs in the last few weeks that we have been playing some better footy and it all came together [on Friday night].
“We just felt like our energy was up… it’s just one of those games that you do get up for, Friday night footy.
“We started the last quarter really well and it set us up just to finish it off.
“It was a quite impressive performance from the boys.”
Cam Zurhaar - AFL.com.au
“I just love tackling.
"I like to hit them hard. I'm a WA boy, and we were born to hit hard.
"Forward-half tackles are just massive for me. I love tackling people, I can't complain about that, but I also like getting on the scoreboard.”
Mason Wood - Media conference
“Probably as the team’s gotten better, I’ve gotten better.
“It’s a week to week thing. The whole group will get better as the year goes on.
“What’s good is that we haven't looked at ‘Browny’ (Ben Brown) to kick them … we had multiple goal-kickers and that’s something we haven’t had in a little while.”
The win marks a perfect start for caretaker coach Rhyce Shaw.
Jack Ziebell - Fox Sports
“It has been a bit of a tough week to be honest.
“[Rhyce has] been great for our group all year and stood up this week.”
Cam Zurhaar - AFL.com.au
“He (Shaw) lifts the morale around the club, and everyone's happy to be around him.
“He's just a ripper fella and I can't speak highly enough of him.”
Jack Ziebell - ABC Grandstand
“It’s been a big week with a few highs and a few lows, but that’s probably the best thing about football. Whatever happens there’s always next week.”
Cam Zurhaar coming in for special praise from the skipper.
Jack Ziebell - ABC Grandstand
“He (Cameron Zurhaar) can kick goals and take marks but his pressure is second to none.”
