Last Week: A tough, tight win against Essendon in the wet at the MCG
A six-day break followed by a trip out west was hardly the ideal preparation for North’s clash against Fremantle in Round 13 of 1996.
The general consensus leading into the game was that it would be a tricky encounter for the Kangaroos.
“North will appreciate a light week on the track after last Sunday’s slogging contest against Essendon at the MCG. The Dockers can be expected to provide a lively contest in front of their home crowd.” – Geoff Poulter, The Age
“The Dockers are competitive but desperately needing some additions to the ‘W’ column, and the venue will help.” – Martin Blake, The Age
Come match day, and it appeared Fremantle could in fact get another addition to the ‘W’ column. A fast start in horrendous conditions had the home side leading by almost four goals early in the second quarter.
Heavy rain throughout the majority of the match meant at times it looked like a rolling maul. A couple of late goals to the Roos pegged the deficit back to just nine points at the long break, before what would turn out to be a decisive third quarter.
“The Roos swung (Corey) McKernan into the ruck and he gradually turned the tide. As McKernan fed the ball out to his little men, the Dockers lost their grip.
“The physical strength of North players was decisive in the third quarter deluge as they kept their feet and pushed the ball down the middle corridor. – Alan East, The Age
“Pagan’s tactics were brilliant. He switched Wayne Carey, to half back to keep Peter Mann quiet. Anthony Dwyer went to full forward and Dean Laidley was assigned to the mercurial (Scott) Chisholm.” – Tim Atkinson, The Age
North peppered the Fremantle defence for almost the entirety of the third quarter, kicking 3.10 for the term. If it wasn’t for several gettable shots sliding wide, the game would have been dead as a contest with a term to go.
But as it stood, it was only a 12-point lead at three quarter time. With conditions continuing to deteriorate, any lead was worth its weight in gold as scoring became extremely tough in the final term.
Dogged defence was the order of the day, as North was able to stop Fremantle hitting the scoreboard, eventually sealing the game with a late goal from Adam Simpson.
Just two weeks after North had encountered a Sydney side playing extra defenders, the Roos' forward line had a different look, as the Herald Sun match report described.
After half time, Pagan opened up his forward line to the point where the crowd could have had kick to kick inside North’s 50-metre arc and not interfered with the contest.
“It’s a funny thing. You kick the ball into space behind our key forwards. It’s very hard for the defender to run it down and then do a U-turn and bring it out with any clarity, and it’s amazing how the ball runs on.
“We wanted an open forward line and it didn’t worry us the ball was rolling on behind, it certainly paid dividends.” – Pagan
A new tactic, potentially? The weeks to come would show whether it was just a one-off.
Click to enlarge
Next week: What loomed as one of the matches of the season, 1 v 2 at the MCG against the reigning premiers in Carlton
Scores
North Melbourne: 1.4.10, 4.9.33, 7.19.61, 9.20.74
Fremantle: 3.5.23, 6.6.42, 7.7.49, 8.10.58
NMFC changes
In: Matthew Armstrong, Matthew Capuano
Out: Craig Sholl, Scott Welsh
Goals
North Melbourne: Archer 2, Anderson 1, Blakey 1, Dwyer 1, Roberts 1, Schwass 1, Simpson 1, Stevens 1
Fremantle: Callaghan 2, Chisholm 2, Hunter 1, Kickett 1, Mann 1, Muir 1
Brownlow Medal
3 – Glenn Archer (North Melbourne), 2 – John Blakey (North Melbourne), 1 – Shaun McManus (Fremantle)
