North Melbourne are the most inconsistent team in the AFL. On Friday night they defeated Hawthorn by 20 points, yet the week before they collapsed against a cellar dwelling Brisbane.
They haven’t won in Brisbane since 2005, but losing to the Lions was extremely unlikely in 2014.
I even said it was impossible. They lost to a team who scored just a point in one half against Port Adelaide.
North have beaten Port Adelaide, Sydney in Sydney, Hawthorn and Fremantle in Fremantle on ANZAC Day. So how did they lose to the Gold Coast, almost to Richmond, to Essendon after leading by 45 points and to Brisbane after beating them by 87 points last year?
Simple. Their first half, although it has improved, still needs improvement. Brad Scott said last week that North were likely to be seventh or eighth and that Top 4 was fantasyland, which would be a correct assessment at this point.
With seven games to play, North has a slight chance of reaching the Top 4. So let’s assess their draw.
Round 17: St Kilda (BA)
Round 18: Carlton (ES)
Round 19: Geelong (ES)
Round 20: GWS Giants (SO)
Round 21: Western Bulldogs (ES)
Round 22: Adelaide (BA)
Round 23: Melbourne (ES)
North could win all seven of them. They would want redemption after losing by one point to Carlton last year and based on their form Carlton winning is unlikely. North beat St. Kilda last year by 68 and the Saints have gotten worse since then.
Geelong they beat by 10 at Etihad last year and the Cats have their own form dramas this year. And so on – you get the picture.
None of this will happen, though, if the Kangaroos don’t start to play with some consistency.
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The umpires played on when it was "clearly a point" as Mitchell Hinge was rammed into the post with the ball. Ultimately, North ended…
Mark Keane got the shock of his life after this rushed behind. It made little difference to the score as Adelaide won by 57…
Fox Footy's Brad Johnson questioned whether Bigoa Nyuon could've got a touch to this Izak Rankine goal if he didn't pull up so early.
Taylor Walker was busy setting up goals for his teammates against North Melbourne. But he didn't need them for this brilliant solo effort.
Luke Davies-Uniacke claimed he got a fist to this one, replays showed something entirely different, leaving the Fox Footy crew chuckling.
Josh Rachele looked to be corralled against the boundary line, but he improvised to escape and set up Luke Pedlar for a goal.
