North Melbourne’s 2013 season will be remembered as being one of the most frustrating for any club in AFL history, as a series of misfortunes conspired to make them miss the play-offs for the third time in Brad Scott’s four-year reign.
The Roos were undoubtedly the hard luck story of the year, finishing the season with a 10-12 win-loss record but with ten of their defeats coming by 18 points or less.
In most of those losses, the Roos were in the best possible position to win, only to find so many cruel ways to lose them all. Had they held on I would not be writing this right now, and the Roos could so easily have finished the regular season at the top of the ladder.
This is the review of the season that should have been, but ultimately wasn’t for North Melbourne.
What went right
The narrow losses aside, North Melbourne had a handful of victories that are worth mentioning.
They defeated four teams which eventually reached the finals. Among these victories was a 62-point pummelling of Richmond and a close victory on the Friday night stage against Geelong in Round 19.
There were also the big victories over the bottom four sides – against the Western Bulldogs by 54 points in Round 7, St Kilda by 68 in Round 11, against GWS by 86 in Round 14 and against Melbourne by 122 in Round 18.
The Roos also finished the season with a healthy percentage of 119.53, which meant that they played to their potential for most of the season.
What went wrong
Well, where do we start?
For a start, ten of the twelve losses they suffered were by less than three goals, and in most of those matches the Roos were in very strong positions to win.
Against Geelong in Round 2, the Roos were seemingly cruising at 41 points up in the second quarter. But a foolish 50-metre penalty conceded in the Roos’ defensive end allowed Jimmy Bartel to kick the match winning goal for the Cats with 30 seconds left.
The Roos also lost very narrow verdicts against Hawthorn (three points), West Coast (two points) and Adelaide and Carlton (one point each). If they had won those matches, the Roos could have been playing finals right now.
Additionally, they also defeated Collingwood in the final round of the home-and-away season, but it was already too late as Carlton, thanks to a comeback victory over Port Adelaide in the final round, took the final available finals place made possible by Essendon’s relegation from the finals series.
The future
While six teams remain in contention for the flag, North Melbourne players and fans are pondering the season and the opportunity that could have been. There is no doubt that they will be losing sleep over those missed chances.
But as they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – that is a motto that the Roos could carry into season 2014.
Another non-finals appearance next year could also make Brad Scott’s position untenable as he enters a fifth year in charge at Arden Street.
Questions the fans will want answered in 2014
– Can the Roos learn how to close out matches?
– Can the Roos hold onto their leads at crucial stages in matches?
– Can they make the finals in 2014?
And last but not least…
– Will Brad Scott survive beyond 2014?
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