With North Melbourne scheduled for a bye this week, NMFC.com.au looks back at the season so far.

Keep an eye out in the days to come for more round-by-round reports.

RELATED: Rounds 3 & 4 | Rounds 5 & 6 | Rounds 7 & 8 | Rounds 9-11

Round 1

Match photos | Video: Match highlights | Post-match: Round 1 | Video: Roo debuts

Kicking things off against former Roo Drew Petrie and the Eagles, North unveiled six club debutants and had a fast start with goals to Ben Brown and Shaun Atley, before Josh Kennedy hit the scoreboard for the visitors.

Despite injury concerns with Petrie and Nathan Vardy requiring medical attention, the Eagles stayed in the game.

North was missing opportunities in front of goal and kicked six behinds in a row from eight consecutive inside 50 entries before Kayne Turner finally broke the drought with his first goal of the season.

North dominated the stoppages and led the hit-out differential by 13 at quarter time but couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard and only led by 9 points.

The Eagles came out firing in the second term and slammed on three straight in the opening three minutes to take a nine-point lead. Mark LeCras was proving a handful and had three goals for the quarter and helped the Eagles to a six-point advantage at the main break.

West Coast raised the bar again in the third term kicking seven goals to North’s three and took a 28-point lead into the final quarter. Kicking efficiency was a major factor with North going at just 55 per cent for the quarter compared to 91 per cent for the Eagles. One of the main culprits, Jarrad Waite, who left his kicking boots at home while Eagles' forward Josh Kennedy couldn’t miss down the other end. Team-wise, North booted 3.2 compared to West Coast’s 7.0.

Things didn’t improve in the final term with North kicking three straight behinds to open the play. Making matters worse, Waite went to the bench with an injured AC joint. He finished the day with 1.7. North had only three less inside 50s and three less scoring shots but eight fewer goals.

Jack Ziebell collected 31 possessions and gained a game-high 644 metres but kicked at just 47 per cent – another example of North’s main area of concern. Trent Dumont and Shaun Higgins had 25 disposals each.

Kennedy finished the day with seven goals while Sam Mitchell collected 38 possessions in their side’s 43-point win.

NORTH MELBOURNE 4.6 8.8 11.10 13.15 (93)
WEST COAST 3.3 9.8 16.8 21.10 (136)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Goldstein 3, Brown 2, Turner 2, Atley, Ziebell, Waite, Preuss, Hrovat, Tarrant
West Coast: Kennedy 7, LeCras 4, Cripps 3, Yeo 2, Darling 2, Jetta, Hill, Petrie

BEST 
North Melbourne: Ziebell, Dumont, Higgins, Swallow, Goldstein
West Coast: Mitchell, Kennedy, Priddis, LeCras, Gaff, Yeo

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
West Coast: Petrie (hand) 

Reports: Nil 
Umpires: Margetts, Nicholls, Mitchell  
Official crowd: 21,997 at Etihad Stadium

Round 2

Match photos | Video: Match highlights | Post-match: Round 2

Keen to make amends for their previous week’s disappointing outing, the Roos again hit the scoreboard early against the Cats through Ben Brown. Playing on a wing, Luke McDonald booted his first of the year while Braydon Preuss shouldered the ruck load with Todd Goldstein out with injury.

Shaun Higgins started well with six possessions, four inside 50s and four score assists in the first 20 minutes. North with four straight goals before Daniel Menzel broke the chain.

The Cats piled on the pressure in the second term kicking three unanswered goals. They took control of the quarter kicking 5.5 to North’s 2.4.

Goals to Brown and Lindsay Thomas was just what Brad Scott was after following the main break with North booting three goals from the centre bounce. Higgins was unstoppable as North led by as many as 32-points.

Behind by far from defeated, the Cats surged back into the contest with the first four goals of the final quarter. Half-way through the final term, they’d kicked 4.2 to North’s 0.1. A goal from George Horlin-Smith gave Geelong its first lead for the match in the final minute and it was enough to steal an unlikely win. The Cats kicked six of the last seven goals and claimed victory by a solitary point.

Patrick Dangerfield and captain Joel Selwood sparked the final quarter comeback while Higgins was North’s best player with 27 possessions, nine inside 50s and two goals. Jy Simpkin also showed plenty of promise in his second game.

GEELONG 2.1 7.6 12.7 17.10 (112)
NORTH MELBOURNE 6.2 8.6 16.8 17.9 (111)

GOALS
Geelong: Hawkins 4, Menzel 4, Horlin-Smith 2, Parfitt, Thurlow, Duncan, Dangerfield, Henderson, Blicavs, Lang
North Melbourne: Brown 3, Higgins 2, Thomas 2 , Turner 2, McDonald, Daw, Dumont, Gibson, Macmillan, Garner, Simpkin, Williams

BEST
Geelong: Dangerfield, Menzel, Selwood, Hawkins, Mackie, Tuohy
North Melbourne: Higgins, Cunnington, Preuss, Tarrant, Brown, Dumont

INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
North Melbourne: Todd Goldstein (ankle) replaced in the selected side by Braydon Preuss, Daw (knee)

Reports: Braydon Preuss (North Melbourne) for rough conduct on Jackson Thurlow (Geelong) in the second quarter
Umpires: Stevic, Hay, Pannell
Official crowd: 30,917 at Etihad Stadium

RELATED: Rounds 3 & 4 | Rounds 5 & 6 | Rounds 7 & 8 | Rounds 9-11