On Thursday, the AFL announced two home and three away games in the prime-time slot involving the Kangaroos. It’s a chance the club will welcome with open arms.
“There are five (Friday night games), and our insular view of that is ‘so there should be’,” Brayshaw said at a media conference to confirm Mazda had signed on with the club for a further three-years.
“We think we play the most exciting footy in the competition. Alright there were some close games that didn’t go our way last year, but there wasn’t one person who drove away from the ground disappointed in what they’d seen.
“We hit the scoreboard; we play the style of footy that all people love watching. We think there’s great reason why we’ve got five Friday night games.
“That’s really exciting, because it means that the AFL are buying into what we are doing as a footy club.”
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While a fixture with several blockbuster games will prove commercially advantageous, it can also be beneficial in a playing sense, according to Brad Scott.
“I think we play football the way we think it will stand up in high pressure games. While that certainly wasn’t the case 2013, we played an up-tempo brand of football because we’ve got a young list and we want to condition them to really taxing football because that’s what it’s going to be when you play the best sides in September.
“This year’s fixture gives us a great opportunity to play in big games and some great timeslots, and that further exposes our players to what we want, and that’s high pressure situations where the stakes are high.”
As well as an increase in Friday nights, North will be the first to play on a redeveloped SCG in Round 4 against Sydney and will come up against Fremantle on Anzac Day.
Scott believes an improved fixture is the result of the respect his team has gained in recent years.
“We had poor fixtures back in 2009, ’10, ’11 - that was a reflection coming from the AFL as to where we sat in the competition. But we were assured once we pushed up and started playing really competitive footy and really good footy that we’d be rewarded with a better fixture, and that’s certainly been the case commercially.”
And while the media have labeled North’s draw one of the more favourable, Scott isn’t buying into it.
“We travel eight times and have seven six-day breaks, so there are certainly challenges in this year’s fixture as well. The reality is no one knows who’s going to jump up the ladder. Port Adelaide showed last year that sides that potentially finish lower on the ladder the previous year can jump up the next year.
“Any fixture would be easier than last year. When I was asked my opinion for preferences for the fixture, I would have said ‘a different one to 2013 would be good.”
