After talk about North Melbourne’s high-scoring ways leading into Friday night, the victory against the Bulldogs was achieved off the back of a hard-nosed defence.
North conceded just 45 points – the lowest tally by its opposition at Etihad Stadium since 2014, 20 matches ago.
During the last couple of seasons, the Roos have shown an ability to absorb opposition inside 50’s before countering themselves.
Again this was on show last Friday. On the night North had 10 fewer entries than the Bulldogs, but still ended with one more scoring shot.
Perhaps the best example to show how this happened occurred in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter. After North had earned a 12-point lead at the break, the visitors came out hard, keen to erase the difference.
The Bulldogs had an 8-1 inside 50 edge in that time, combined with a 40-15 disposals advantage. However for all their hard work, the difference on the scoreboard was just one point – 1.1 to 1.0.
The job by Scott Thompson on Jake Stringer was immense. Although Stringer has been slightly down on goal scoring form this year, his unique game provides a challenge for any defender to match up on.
Thompson held his opponent goalless and to just 17 disposals – many of which came when Stringer had a stint on-ball in the second quarter.
Without Stringer as an option up forward, the Dogs were forced to turn to other players – all of their goals came from their smaller types and midfielders; Dahlhaus, Stevens, Bontempelli, McLean, Dickson and Jong.
Going into the match, much had been made of how important the battle at the contest was. While on face value it appeared the Bulldogs had the advantage – 13 more clearances and 13 more contested possessions – the scoreboard told a different story.
The Roos were able to kick six goals from their 31 clearances, compared to the Bulldogs’ two from 44. In a low scoring match it was a significant difference.
For North, it was Andrew Swallow (eight clearances), Jack Ziebell (six) and Daniel Wells (five) who led the way winning the ball in close.
Swallow in particular has had a very good fortnight, rounding into form after an interrupted pre-season. With 14 tackles as well as 23 disposals, his game was well-rounded.
Wells was electric in the first quarter – 13 disposals provided much of the impetus to get his side off to a fast start. He finished with 27, and it’s now the first time he’s strung six consecutive games together since 2013.
Down forward the Jarrad Waite show continued with another performance arguably worthy of Brownlow votes. Not only did he kick four goals himself, he also assisted on another.
The assist was his 11th of the season – tied with Joel Selwood for the most in the AFL. When combining his assists with the 22 goals, no other player has impacted the scoreboard as much as Waite in 2016.
