North Melbourne vice-captain Drew Petrie has hit out at critics of Majak Daw, labelling recent media coverage surrounding the forward as ‘ludicrous’.

Daw had a quiet game against Geelong, but wasn’t alone.

“It has been unfair. A 10-gamer with not much of a footy background until he almost started playing AFL football… if we’re blaming Majak for our situation it’s ludicrous,” Petrie said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“I think he’s an easy target and it’s pretty disappointing for certain people in the media to be targeting Majak Daw.”

Coming off knee surgery and an injury interrupted pre-season, Daw has kicked a respectable five goals in four outings. But some pundits have questioned his value to the team.

Petrie is happy to back his forward counterpart, instead putting the heat on his more experienced team-mates.

“I think our senior players were responsible for what happened on Friday night, me included. We didn’t get it going our way,” he added.  

North’s back six were overwhelmed by the weight of possession coming in, as the home team raced to a 38-point lead off the back of a dominant first term.

The Cats seemed to have loose men everywhere.

“It starts in the middle and comes forward, and if the forwards and mids aren’t performing, then your backs are under a lot of pressure. We didn’t help them.”