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Well, here we are. Six weeks into the AFL season and North Melbourne are 6-0, the only undefeated team in the competition, and will this week remain at the top of the ladder for a third successive round. So, do you rate them yet?
Many readers will be well aware that I am a North Melbourne fan and that unlike many others who write about football I have no interest in trying to hide that fact. Yes, unbiased writing is good writing, but footy is all about passion, and I think the football writing world needs a bit of that too.
From a North fan perspective one thing I can tell you is that in the eyes of the opposition fans this team seems to have lacked legitimacy over the past few years, despite the impressive results that the club has put forward.
Four finals wins in two years and a strong start 5-0 start to the season – these are not the kind of outcomes that happen by accident, though that is certainly the tune that much of the football world has been singing, at least until yesterday.
For whatever reason, it seems to be a lot easier for many people to believe that this team has unwittingly bumbled its way through a period of relative success, than to believe that North Melbourne might actually just be pretty good at what they do.
In the lead up to last night’s match many opined that a win over the Bulldogs would give North’s start to the year some legitimacy. Former player Wayne Carey said in the lead up to the match that it was “an opportunity… to win over some of the doubters.”
That logic in itself is a bit strange. The Bulldogs came into last night’s match with four wins, but all against bottom-half battlers: Fremantle, St Kilda, Carlton and Brisbane. North at least had one win over a fellow finals hopeful in Adelaide. If anything, a win over North should’ve legitimised the Bulldogs moreso than the other way around. But, perception and logic are two very different things.
At any rate, that situation has come to pass. So the question is, do people now rate North Melbourne? Because what we have here is a very rateable side.
Let’s start with the forward line. Many were asking last week, is it the Hawks or the Crows who boast the best forwards in the league? But North deserve to be in the conversation. While last night’s match turned into a low-scorer, the Roos forwards have as much firepower as any team in the league.
Jarrad Waite has played as well as any key forward has in these first few weeks of the season and after being on the AFL’s junkpile just eighteen months ago is now the centrepiece item in a league-leading forward half.
Combine that with the perennial talent of Drew Petrie, the rising star of Ben Brown, the class of Shaun Higgins and Brent Harvey, and the loved-only-by-North-fans Lindsay Thomas, and you’ve got a forward six where every member is a potential match-winner.
Given the potency of what’s in front of them, the midfielders only really need to control the game for 30 or 40 per cent of the time in order to kick a winning score. Last night North had 79 less disposals, 13 less clearances, 13 less contested possessions and 10 less inside 50s – but the forward line converted their opportunities better, and the result was a win.
That midfield is showing it can compete with the best, even if it’s not as star-studded as some. Jack Ziebell has improved his consistency and fitness to the point where he is approaching elite status, Daniel Wells is playing career-best footy, and the rest of the mix in the middle is functioning like a well-oiled machine.
Todd Goldstein has been in quality form again in the ruck to start the year, and while he had a quieter game than usual last night there is something of a silver lining in that it’s nice to see the team get a win over a fellow high-placed side without him needing to be the reason behind it.
That leaves just the defence which has rightly been described as North’s Achilles heel. It’s not poor so much as it is just average standard, though some plaudits are rightly deserved for keeping the Bulldogs to a low total of only six goals last night.
In particular Robbie Tarrant is an underrated performer and in last night’s match Scott Thompson played probably his best game since he held Lance Franklin goalless and had 24 disposals in Round 4, 2014. Michael Firrito plays like only a 259-game veteran can, Luke McDonald looks back on track after some second-year blues in 2015.
The team has been criticised for being old – it’s the oldest team going around right now and one of the oldest in decades – but as I wrote a fortnight ago, why do we think being old is a bad thing? Right now we’re seeing the benefits that maturity and experience bring to a playing list, and they are significant.
Whether this team can go all the way in 2016 or not remains to be seen, but right now they are in a great position to give it a genuine go. Their next three fixtures will see them come up against St Kilda, Essendon and Carlton, making a 9-0 start to the season wholly possible, though there is always a danger in counting eggs before they hatch and the club will do well to remember that.
That would provide an excellent platform for North to challenge for a top four position after the home-and-away, as well as giving them enormous momentum and confidence heading into the middle and later parts of the fixture.
Of course, there will always be people happy to cast doubts on this team. They only won because the Bulldogs had injuries, or the because the Bulldogs made mistakes, they’ll say – as if adapting to limited personnel or not making mistakes weren’t parts of the game.
That crowd, however, is beginning to dwindle. So why not join in the chorus and start rating North Melbourne? None of us know for sure where we’ll all end up in the fullness of time, but right now there’s plenty of room on the North Melbourne bandwagon, and believe me, we’re enjoying the ride.