There is not a more difficult team to read than the Kangaroos. Just when you think you’ve got an idea as to where North stand, they completely defy your expectations.
The Roos truly deserve the distinction of being the AFL’s most frustrating team.
They are a footy tipper’s worst nightmare. They lose the games they should win, and win the games in which they are merely expected to have a crack and maybe be competitive.
As soon as you are confident enough to believe North Melbourne are a certain top eight team, they serve up a performance similar to Saturday night’s debacle against the Lions.
Excuses centring around Brisbane’s extra motivation to farewell Jonathan Brown may be applicable, but a team with top four aspirations simply cannot afford to lose to a bottom feeder, regardless of the circumstances.
Remember, the Kangaroos were being talked up as a genuine premiership threat at the beginning of the season, as we all thought they would put the shame of last season behind them.
Although losing close games has not proven to be as much of an issue in 2014, (they are 2-2 in games decided by 20 points or less) the Roos have not improved at all since last season.
Sure, interstate wins against the Swans and Dockers, in addition to a win over the Power, may look impressive, but North have lost games against the Suns, Pies, Lions, Crows and Bombers, without being particularly competitive in any of these games.
That is five pitiful performances against clubs that are either similarly placed or below the Kangaroos on the ladder. How is it possible to form an opinion about this team?
North’s best form is as good as anyone and their worst is on the same level as the poorest teams in the competition. This, however, is merely a cop out. With the number of occasions in which we have been subject to such turbulent form from the Roos, there has to be something larger at play.
Saturday night’s loss to the Lions actually served as something of a microcosm for North’s season so far; periods in which the team look they can’t be bothered doing what it takes to win, and periods they appear to be one of the better teams in the league.
In most cases, a footy team’s the performance generally reflects the quality of its players. North Melbourne’s maddening lack of consistency is a manifestation of the fact that no one on the Kangaroos’ list is able to influence a game for four quarters. Too many players at North Melbourne seem to take a five or ten minute break in the middle of a game. Such a patchy effort won’t even win games against the cellar dwellers in the AFL, let alone win a premiership.
Have we ever seen a team that is so reliant on a 36-year-old to be its best player each and every week?
Brent Harvey is a great player, but he should not still be the most important player at North Melbourne. Due to the shocking inconsistency of the Kangaroos’ younger players, however, ‘Boomer’ finds himself with the responsibility of dragging his team over the line week in and week out.
None of North’s younger players are aggressive enough, and are too willing to cede to someone else when it gets too hard. As a result, Harvey is left to pick up the slack, and this may end up shortening his career. If there is one player on North’s list who should be allowed the luxury of not having to lead the team, it is Boomer, but his younger teammates just will not afford him it.
Who knows what the Kangaroos will deliver against Hawthorn on Friday night. Based on 2014 form, they’re just as likely to upset the reigning premiers as they are to lose by ten goals.
What we do know is that unless Brent Harvey wins the game for them, it could get ugly.
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