- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
After his side’s loss to Carlton on Friday night, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott said in his post-match press conference that he was “hoping the opposition would lose”.
Sorry Brad, but that’s not how you win matches in the AFL. Matches are won by teamwork, commitment and good defence.
At least one of those wasn’t shown by the Kangaroos in their unexpected 23-point loss to the Blues in the opener to the split Round 18.
It was a match they were heavily favoured to win as they start to close in on a probable finals berth with only five full rounds left this season.
But instead of securing their ticket to September, they were made to look second rate against a Carlton side which has been largely inept this season.
They never seriously looked like winning the match, but was only in the final quarter where they would completely give up, coughing up six-straight goals to go down by 23 points, thus continuing their season of terrible inconsistency.
The defeat to the Blues counts among many of the Roos’ unexpected losses this season, which also includes those to the Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast Suns and Adelaide Crows, all of whom are outside the eight.
Unbelievably, this was also the same team that has defeated four of the top five teams on the ladder, including wins over Fremantle and West Coast (11th) both in the west, Port Adelaide at home, and the Sydney Swans at the SCG where the Roos hadn’t won since 2004.
It comes to show that you simply cannot enter a match against a lower-ranked team expecting to “bank four points and move on”, as Brad Scott said in his post-match press conference.
As he later said, “it just doesn’t work”. Brad, if you’re reading this, you’re spot on.
After this week’s bye, the Roos face second-placed Geelong at home, after which is followed by a trip to their former secondary home to face the 15th-placed GWS Giants in Canberra.
It’s expected that they will beat the ever-improving Giants and at least give the Cats a run for their money, but if their roller-coaster season continues, the reverse could occur, further exposing the Roos as pretenders.
The two sides faced off on Saturday night with the Cats surviving a final quarter fightback by the Giants to win by only seven points after leading by as much as six goals early in the final quarter and trailing by eleven points in the second.
Although the Cats won as expected, the Giants were again gallant in defeat with this being their third by that margin this season, after losing to St Kilda and Hawthorn, both in Melbourne, in rounds 2 and 11 respectively.
However, co-captain Phil Davis has made it clear that his team are past the stage of having “honourable losses”, and coach Leon Cameron also said that it’s time to become “a team that wants to win and win all the time”.
Already the third-year club have won four matches for the season, surpassing the Kevin Sheedy era (two wins in 2012 and one last year) combined. Regardless of how they fare for the rest of this season, it should already be considered a success considering the struggles they endured in their first two years.
Some of their season highlights include knocking off big brother on their fifth attempt, winning consecutive matches for the first time in their history and winning three of their seven matches at their Sydney base, Spotless Stadium.
And with five rounds left before the end of the season, there is bound to be many more, including a blockbuster final home showdown against Collingwood in the penultimate round of the regular season.
The fate that befell North Melbourne also happened to second-placed Fremantle who were denied provisional top spot on the ladder after being thrashed by last-placed St Kilda at Etihad Stadium the following night.
The Dockers were missing Aaron Sandilands and Hayden Ballantyne through injury and suspension respectively, and so did not resemble the team that put Greater Western Sydney to the sword by 76 points last weekend.
They probably weren’t prepared for what was to come from Alan Richardson’s men, for whom club legend Lenny Hayes announced his retirement during the week and wanted to finish off the season and his career on a high.
The Saints hadn’t won a game in exactly three months and after having won three of their first five matches of the season, had slumped to 18th place on the ladder and were starring down the barrel of finishing with their first wooden spoon since 2000.
Accordingly, they entered their match against Fremantle, one of the strong contenders for this year’s premiership, as heavy underdogs. Yet they threw the form guide out the window with clearly their best performance for a very long time.
The Dockers’ inept performance, which brought back memories of their equally-as-dismal loss to Hawthorn back in Round 3, was not indicative of a team which many rate as genuine premiership contenders in 2014.
Their complacency entering the match against the Saints could potentially cost them not only the double-chance, but also a coveted top two finish, with which comes their first two finals in Perth.
Ross Lyon’s men still have to play the Cats and Hawks for a second time each in the run home, and both are key matches that could determine where the Dockers finish at the end of the regular season.
It could prove to be the difference between getting a second chance in the finals or risking elimination in the first round of the finals series; if the latter were to occur, then the season would for them prove to be a failure.
The Sydney Swans, currently on a 12-match winning streak dating back to April, won’t want to let this same thing befall them when they face Hawthorn this Saturday night at the MCG, though many could feel that they are due for a loss against the reigning premiers.
In Sunday’s only two matches, Port Adelaide and Essendon had to come from behind to beat Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs respectively. Both matches were thrillers, continuing the theme of shocks and thrillers so far this round.
The second half of Round 18 will feature the West Coast Eagles hosting Richmond in the west, the eighth annual QClash between the Lions and Suns, the aforementioned blockbuster between the Hawks and Swans and, to close it out, the Pies hosting the Crows at the ‘G.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.