As North approached its 2012 meeting with Carlton, it found itself in the middle of a battle for the finals.

Coming off a six-day break and a heartbreaking loss to West Coast at Blundstone Arena, the Kangaroos had to recover quickly to get the season back on the right path.

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Handily for the home side on the night, Drew Petrie decided to have his way with the Carlton defence. Petrie split his time between Lachlan Henderson and Michael Jamison and was unstoppable.

With seven goals in just three quarters before being substituted, Petrie put the game well out of Carlton’s reach by the final change. There was a heavy focus on getting the ball into the number 20’s hands. Of North’s 54 inside 50’s on the night, Petrie was the intended target on 15 occasions. Lachlan Hansen was next, with just six.

[RELATED: Drew Petrie highlights]

North kicked 24 goals in one of the most efficient performances of the season by any team.

However it wasn’t just in the forward 50 where North was brutally efficient. It had 55 less disposals than Carlton for the evening but had a slight clearance edge. It was thanks in large to Daniel Wells, Andrew Swallow and Jack Ziebell who had 25 of 39 total clearances on the night.

Ziebell and Leigh Adams were the main talking points after the game. The number seven was controversially reported for a contest with Aaron Joseph and was eventually suspended for four weeks.

[RELATED: Video of Ziebell suspension]

Meanwhile Adams was the victim of a ‘chicken wing’ by Chris Judd, with the Carlton star also suspended for four games.

[RELATED: Video of Judd suspension]

North Melbourne 6.1.37, 12.2.74, 19.4.118, 24.5.149
Carlton 3.4.22, 6.9.45, 9.9.63, 14.12.96

Goals
North Melbourne: Petrie 7, Hansen 4, Harper 3, Thomas 3, Adams 1, Atley 1, Bastinac 1, Harvey 1, Swallow 1, Tarrant 1, Wells 1
Carlton: Judd 3, Armfield 2, Betts 2, Carrazzo 1, Duigan 1, Garlett 1, McLean 1, Murphy 1, Robinson 1, Yarran 1

Brownlow Medal
3 – Drew Petrie (NM), 2 – Chris Judd (Carl), 1 – Daniel Wells (NM)