North came away with a 35-point win over Richmond in the club’s first visit to Blundstone Arena in Hobart for 2015.
After a relatively quiet start to the season, Drew Petrie was the focus for many of the sports writers in what was his best game of the year so far.
The Mercury
“While Petrie may not have had the scoreboard impact of some of his teammates, his effort and work rate was second to none in the 35-point victory.
“Playing further up the ground, Petrie had 21 possessions, took 10 marks, laid four tackles and booted 1.2 in a starring role.
“He took Tigers’ best defender Alex Rance completely out of the game, allowing North’s mosquito fleet of Lindsay Thomas (five goals), Shaun Higgins (three), Robin Nahas and Brent Harvey (two each) to cash in.” - Adam Smith
With five goals for the game, small forward Lindsay Thomas was also praised along with in form ruckman Todd Goldstein, Brent Harvey and Shaun Higgins.
Herald Sun
“Roos’ small forward Lindsay Thomas was a thorn for the Tigers’ all day, kicking five goals including a left-footed snap from the boundary in the last term that helped blunt a last-minute charge of back-to-back goals from Richmond.
“Richmond targeted Thomas physically but the livewire drew two high free-kicks in the third term that helped ignite the Roos’ charge, kicking accurately from a 50m set shot and then finding Jarrad Waite open in the forward pocket.” - Jay Clark
The Mercury
“Thomas jagged three of his five goals in the third stanza, with North rattling on six unanswered majors and seven to one for the term to kill off the contest.” - Adam Smith
The Age
“In ruckman Todd Goldstein and forward flanker Shaun Higgins the Kangaroos boasted two players who were influential for the entire match, in addition to a more even spread of contributors.
“Harvey ran riot on his preceding visit to Blundstone Arena, against St Kilda in round 17 last year, and threatened to do the same against Richmond after snaring three disposals, including a goal, in the first four minutes of the match.”
“As the Kangaroos went on their five-goal streak to finish the (third) quarter it was fitting that both Goldstein and Higgins were involved: Goldstein twice making pivotal interceptions in the centre, former Bulldog Higgins as one of the goalscorers after Edwards carelessly conceded a 50-metre penalty." - Jesse Hogan
Herald Sun
“Drew Petrie enjoyed perhaps his best game of the season with 10 marks, Todd Goldstein again looked like the best ruckman in the AFL and Brent Harvey again provided the electric run, quite incredibly, in his 390th game." - Jay Clark
In what was a scrappy contest early, North did what it needed to do against the Tigers to secure the four-points.
Herald Sun
“But North Melbourne deserves much credit for holding their nerve throughout a tense first half and capitalising on their opportunities when they presented in the decisive third term.” - Jay Clark
The Age
“For Kangaroos fans, even though their team did not bury the Tigers on the scoreboard in the final quarter, they should be comforted to have achieved such a decisive win while barely breaking a sweat.” - Jesse Hogan
Now at three wins and three losses, the Roos will look to capitalise on the momentum when they play the Bombers on Friday night at Etihad.
