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Kangaroo supporters better soak up the good feelings that came from beating Geelong last week because their season is about to come to a grinding halt.
The evidence was on display in the last quarter of their semi-final clash against the Cats when Tom Hawkins almost single handedly brought Geelong home.
Hawkins was great all night. He was the only Geelong forward to consistently present himself and be a danger. Without a doubt, it was his best September performance since he came of age in the 2011 grand final.
But if North Melbourne can’t cover one dominant forward, how are they going to cope with Sydney’s multi-faceted attack?
Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett are a formidable duo. Franklin can rip a team to threads with a five-minute burst of brilliance, while Tippett has the potential to become the most dominant forward in the game. He can monster a defence with his pure size and sure marking.
Add Adam Goodes and Sam Reid to the mix and you have a classy bunch of forwards who are impossible to cover for an entire game. They can stretch any defence, and North do not have the armoury to withstand hit after hit from such a potent attack. Try as they might, Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito and Nathan Grima will not be good enough to prevail over four quarters of high-octane football.
And if the flood gates do open, well, it could get ugly.
Of course, the Kangaroos have a bit of potency up forward themselves, and if the game does develop into a shoot out, then they might be in with some sort of chance. They were fast out of the blocks against Geelong and will need to be again against Sydney.
But even though Lindsay Thomas got them off to a great start last week with three early goals and Drew Petrie did his best to channel Phil ‘Snake’ Baker (look him up on Youtube kids), the Kangaroos still couldn’t solidify their lead.
Their defence leaked goals towards the end of each quarter and that kept Geelong in the game. They should have buried the Cats, but were incapable of doing so.
And it almost proved to be their undoing.
We have been constantly reminded throughout this finals series how even leads of 30-plus points can be erased in the blink of an eye. Modern footy may have been cursed with the advent of flooding and overtly defensive tactics, but the ability of teams to score quickly when a game bursts open has never been better. It is stunning to watch and the slightest lapse in concentration across the midfield or down back can result in an avalanche of goals.
Essendon found out just how deadly such an onslaught can be in week one of the finals, and Fremantle also suffered a similar fate at the hands of Port Adelaide in week two. North were the lucky ones, doing just enough to survive their cut-throat encounter with the Cats. But for Todd Goldstein’s match-saving mark, they would already be history. Another minute of play and it would have been all over for the fast fading Roos.
Any quick scoring this week though will belong entirely to the Swans. While Thomas and Petrie were good last week, they will be coming up against the most miserly defence in the league. Conceding a touch over 67 points per game throughout the home-and-away season, the Swans are ranked the number one defensive outfit in the competition.
That’s not a bad attribute to have, especially with the amount of fire power they posses at the other end of the ground.
North Melbourne did beat Sydney way back in Round 4, and Thompson held Franklin goalless, but the Swans started the season slowly, recording just one win in their first four games. They have only lost two games since and will be a vastly different side this time around.
According to Petrie, the Roos have already proved that they are genuine contenders, but that is a bit like Richmond fans being proud of their club for winning nine games in a row. Sure, they have battled their way into the last four, but it means nothing if they get blown away on Friday night.
Good luck to them though. There are 14 other clubs who would gladly accept the position North Melbourne currently find themselves in, and if they can knock down the Swans this week then, yes, they will be genuine contenders.
But until then, the Roos still have a lot to prove. My heart would like to see the Shinboner fairytale continue, but my head can’t help but think we are in for a boil over.
Sorry North fans, it’s the Swans by plenty.
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