The home side controlled the flow of the opening term, and a 32-point quarter time lead meant the Kangaroos were in a winning position early.
It all started with the simple possession count. North had a +60 edge on the Saints in the first term, convincingly winning the ball both on the inside and the outside.
| Round 17, Q1 | Total disposals | Contested disposals | Uncontested disposals |
| North Melbourne | 119 | 38 | 73 |
| St Kilda | 59 | 23 | 35 |
However the advantage North had with ball in hand could have turned sour very quickly if it didn’t take care of the Sherrin moving out of the back half.
Players like Lachlan Hansen (9 disposals), Scott McMahon (9 disposals) and Sam Wright (9 disposals) ensured that didn’t happen. The Kangaroos’ 119 possession tally in the first quarter was the most by any team in Round 17, and only 10 turnovers were committed. It was the best ratio in the league for the weekend.
| AFL R17, Q1 | Total disposals | Total turnovers | Average disposals per turnover |
| North Melbourne | 119 | 10 | 11.9 |
| Geelong | 94 | 8 | 11.75 |
| Hawthorn | 111 | 11 | 10.1 |
Despite the above, perhaps the most impressive aspect of North’s first quarter was the pressure around the ball when it didn’t have possession, reflected in the tackle count.
Normally when a team has 60 more disposals than its opposition in just 30 minutes of football, there’s minimal time left to apply any tackles.
Simple logic dictates the more time spent chasing leads to more time spent tackling. However the Roos actually laid more tackles than the Saints in the first term.
| Round 17, Q1 | Total disposals | Total tackles |
| North Melbourne | 119 | 13 |
| St Kilda | 59 | 12 |
As a point of comparison, on Saturday afternoon Gold Coast had 33 less disposals than the Western Bulldogs in the first quarter, but laid four more tackles.
On an individual note, Todd Goldstein played a large part in the Kangaroos’ early dominance. Champion Data graded his opening term as the second best individual quarter of the weekend, only behind Joel Selwood’s effort against Melbourne in the first term.
The North ruckman was dominant both in the ruck and down forward. His two majors made for his first multi-goal haul of the season, and he added to it with 12 hit-outs.
