A 56-point victory against the Giants was achieved largely thanks to Todd Goldstein’s dominance in the ruck and the fact the midfielders made it count.

The week prior, interim coach Darren Crocker bemoaned his side’s inability to take charge from the stoppages despite a significant edge in the clearance count.

Against the Giants the same advantage was there, but this time the Kangaroos pounced.

Goldstein’s amazing 80 hit-out (27 to advantage) game led to a 58-30 clearance edge. As the numbers show, the difference in how North’s midfield used the ruckman was vast.

Although the rise of the ‘third man up’ can potentially neutralise star ruckmen like Goldstein around the ground, the centre bounce remains a one-on-one situation.

It’s here that Goldstein shows his value. Over the last fortnight the 26-year-old has laid the base for an incredible edge from the middle. North has had an astounding 36-7 advantage from centre bounces.

Not only does it give the side a boost offensively, it almost eliminates an entire avenue of scoring for the opposition. If North is able to control the ball out of the stoppages, it essentially has the game on its terms if it can dispose of the ball efficiently.

The Giants only managed two goals from clearances on Saturday. Combine it with Sydney’s three in Round 11 and North becomes a good side at defending from stoppages simply because it emerges with the ball most of the time.

North was also able to rectify the inaccuracy which plagued it last week when kicking for goal on the run.

The season’s performance up until that point suggested it would only be a temporary issue, and it was proven correct against the Giants.

One week after kicking a combined 2.9 from snap shots and on the move, the Kangaroos turned it around to post 11.4 at Spotless Stadium.

Jamie Macmillan and Jarrad Waite were the chief reasons for the accuracy, kicking a combined six goals straight.