Comparing North Melbourne’s Round 16 performance against the Western Bulldogs with the Round 3 clash is like comparing chalk and cheese, with Sunday’s performance amongst the best of North’s season.

Taking on the ladder-leading Bulldogs, North fell by 29-points, however the margin is not fully indicative of the context of the game.

Kicking 4 goals and 8 behinds in the final term, only inaccuracy in front of goal stopped North from piling the pressure on the Dogs.

A key man in a solid team performance, Cam Zurhaar finished the clash with 4 goals, equalling his season-high as he continues his surge of red-hot form.

“We definitely had them, or it felt like we had them … we were a bit wasteful in front of goals in that last quarter, but we came hard and played our brand of footy,” Zurhaar told North Media.

“All our energy was great but … we were wasteful with some of our possessions and wasteful going inside 50, and we didn’t get the chocolates unfortunately.

“We obviously got touched up in Round 3 and we were very disappointed about that. We came out and stuck it to them and we had good fight.

“It’s a credit to the boys, but it’s still disappointing.”

With a clash with West Coast in Perth looming large, Round 17 offers an opportunity for Zurhaar to play in front of his friends and family, with the number-44 Western Australian born.  

With no crowds allowed at North’s last game in Perth, the challenges of the Covid affected 2021 season have impacted players all over the competition.

Zurhaar says if North does travel, he’s hopeful some of his loved ones will be able to attend the game.

“We like going on the road, so if we end up in Perth it’d be nice. Obviously, it’d be in front of my home crows so it’d be nice to go over there,” he said.

“It’d be nice to get mum, dad and some friends and family [in the crowd] … I haven’t really had that.

“It’d be good to play in front of them and hopefully we have a good performance."