North Melbourne have endured plenty of heartbreak this season, but after five losses, three of them heartbreaking, North Melbourne have finally opened their account in 2017 with a 14-point win over Gold Coast.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
North Melbourne Kangaroos 16.11.107
Gold Coast Suns 14.10.94
The 0-5 North Melbourne Kangaroos are at home against the Gold Coast Suns, and they don’t want that record to become 0-6. Join The Roar for live scores and highlights from 7:25pm (AEST).
Despite being in front for 53 per cent of their game time this year, the Roos sit in 17th spot on the ladder, their five losses to start the season making it ten consecutive defeats for the club, dating back to Brent Harvey’s record-breaking 427th match against St Kilda in Round 19, 2016.
Harvey is gone, along with fellow veterans Drew Petrie, Nick Dal Santo and Michael Firrito, and with Brad Scott sending the experienced Andrew Swallow and Lindsay Thomas back to the VFL this week, the Roos look as fresh-faced as they’ve been in some time.
Their young players have shown more than glimpses this year, with Jy Simpkin’s craftiness around goal, Kayne Turner’s tackling pressure and speed and emergency Braydon Preuss’ strength around stoppages a light at the end of the tunnel for long-suffering North fans.
But those same fans would also point out that the side really should be 3-2, with heartbreaking losses to Geelong (one point), the Western Bulldogs (three points) and Fremantle (five points) all coming after the Roos had built up sizeable leads.
Their loss to the Dockers last week, having led from the 21-minute mark of the first quarter until Shane Kersten’s snapped winner with 44 seconds left, was particularly galling, and their senior core of leaders, including captain Jack Ziebell, have been heavily scrutinised by the media this week.
The Suns would know a fair bit about scrutiny, having endured the same after their Round 2 thumping at the hands of GWS, but a pair of victories over Hawthorn and Carlton got the monkey off their back.
A crushing 67-point loss to Adelaide last week was expected, and even had a bright spot, with youngster Callum Ah Chee enjoying a breakout game with five goals.
Gary Ablett and Michael Barlow were excellent again in midfield, Adam Saad and Jarrod Harbrow provided their customary run from half-back, and Tom Lynch proved once again he is one of the best key forwards in the competition.
The loss of Steven May and Rory Thompson down back was apparent, however, with the Crows piling on 23 goals for the match against a defence that looks shaky at best.
Neither are back this week, and to make matters worse, running midfielder David Swallow hasn’t made the trip down to Melbourne, with Jesse Lonergan replacing him.
According to the Suns, the former No.1 draft pick has been “rested”, but given he has looked proppy this season and has had two consecutive seasons derailed by knee injuries, it wouldn’t surprise if there was more to his absence than met the eye.
Prediction
For the first time this season, North start a game as favourites, and while we’ve seen them be more than competitive as underdogs, it remains to be seen how their inexperienced side will cope with being truly expected to win, especially with the added pressure of having squandered multiple victory opportunities in the first five rounds.
Ultimately, though, the Roos’ key position players both forward and back are their major strength, and with May and Thompson still sidelined, the Suns’ defence may be unable to stop them kicking a winning score.
North Melbourne by 16 points
Ben Cunnington was the Roos’ best player against the Dockers last week, finishing with 29 touches in a bullocking performance in midfield, and in his 150th game, the popular 25-year old will want to make the occasion a memorable one.
Can the Roos right the wrongs of their season so far and give their fans something to smile about? Or will Tom Lynch and the Suns break their hearts yet again?
Tune into The Roar’s live blog from 7:25pm (AEST), and don’t forget to leave us your two cents’ worth in the comments section below.
Perry Bridge
Guest
Just wondering why that was a free to Rosa and not a free against him - he could've broken Gibsons leg. That was worse than Thomas v Rohan years ago (which seemed to generate the interpretation change even though that particular event didn't fit the interpretation). Thankfully deliberate out of bounds was done ridiculously last night - however - umpiring still pretty insipid. Granted Matera hard done by in the last - he certainly did hand ball it. But then, the Suns got a goal in the 2nd after Sexton clearly and for all to see threw the ball away when tackled so - karma? Hrovat got a first qtr free luckily - it looked worse than it was - the bump into the post was actually legal. Cunnington had a dirty night - including being pinged for holding the ball when 2 Suns literally jumped into his back in the tackle - thinking back to the Puopulo one earlier in the year - it must have been a free to Ben10 but no.....and this is where the confusion is. The umpires are NOT preaching from a common book - it seems.
Cat
Roar Guru
So good to see the little master back to his best. Imagine what he might do next year in a team that will lift with him.
Perry Bridge
Guest
This was the sort of decision making that has to be put out to pasture for North to win games against better opposition. It should have been a 2 goal turn around - as it was it was a 7 pt turn around. But - both teams stuffed up an awful lot. As did the umpires. Pretty unimpressive outside of Ablett and Brown. Happy to get a win though and sing the song.
Tim Miller
Editor
Well, that's it from me tonight. North Melbourne outlast the Suns to win their first match of the season by 13 points. Night all (Roos fans, I'm guessing tonight's sleep will be pretty good!) North Melbourne 16.11 (107) def Gold Coast 14.10 (94) by 13 points at Etihad Stadium. GOALS North Melbourne: Brown 6, Hrovat 2, Higgins, Turner, Gibson, McDonald, Hansen, Williams, Anderson, Simpkin. Gold Coast: Lynch 3, Wright 2, Matera 2, Barlow 2, Ah Chee 2, Ablett, Sexton, Bowes. BEST North Melbourne: Brown, Hrovat, Goldstein, Higgins, Thompson. Gold Coast: Ablett, Barlow, Harbrow, Sexton, Miller.
Tim Miller
Editor
» Click here to read the full match report Gold Coast: G. Ablett, three votes. It's not often the losing side yields the best player on the ground, but Gazza's done that plenty of times in his career up on the Gold Coast. He was simply awesome. 45 touches, almost all of them of the highest quality. To rack up that many stats and still go at 80 per cent efficiency is unbelievable; that means 36 of his touches were effective. Also tackled hard, got around a quarter of his team's contested possessions (unheard of), almost 20 clearances, and even picked up a late goal to keep the Suns alive. For anyone else, it would be a career game, but for the little maestro, it's almost a standard evening at the office.
RooBoy17
Guest
Although Suns were missing a couple of players to injury, North did well to curb the influence of Ablett. Brown really has to build on tonight's performance and put up his hand as the "go-to" man in the forward line. Will be interesting to see how he backs this up next week. North's season really hinges on how he performs when Waite is absent.
Tim Miller
Editor
North Melbourne: B. Brown, two votes. The Suns simply can't get Rory Thompson and Steven May back quickly enough. Brown was too smart, too strong and ultimately, too good for Jack Leslie, who tried hard but was let down by poor pressure further up the ground. Time after time Brown was able to lead into space, with his ability to find a gap and burst out excellent. His goalkicking, too, was first-class: the Western Bulldogs could learn a lot from his kicking. A career-high six goals, 17 touches and 8 marks, and even gave Goldstein a chop out in the ruck. His best game yet.
Tim Miller
Editor
As always, we finish with Predictive Brownlow time! (Technically it's The Roar MVP, but I reckon "Predictive Brownlow" has a nice ring to it. Also I've used it in all my blogs and it's kind of become habit. Anyway, I'm digressing. North Melbourne: N. Hrovat, one vote. He got a reprieve from omission last week with a late withdrawal, and ever since, Hrovat's form has been excellent. In the first half in particular, when the Roos were struggling, his class with ball in hand and ability to spread to provide his teammates with an option was first-class. And while many of his teammates frittered away chances with poor kicking, his disposal was largely pinpoint and precise. Finished with 22 touches and 2 goals, but it was the 15 he had in the first half that get him in the votes.
Tim Miller
Editor
North Melbourne have endured plenty of heartbreak this season, but after five losses, 3 of them heartbreaking, North Melbourne have finally opened their account in 2017 with a 14-point win over Gold Coast. There were some nervous moments late, and the Suns never stopped trying, but the Roos simply led by too much too late to lose again. For the first quarter and a half, the match followed a pattern: North Melbourne would win the ball, they would cough it up, and the Suns would use their pace and efficient kicking to burst forward on the rebound and score. But as Todd Goldstein got on top of Jarrod Witts in the centre, the Roos' midfielders began to hold their own, whereas before it was Ablett, Ablett, Ablett. A five-goal burst in the third term, after the Suns had got out to a ten-point lead, was vital, while for the first time this year, the Roos had the composure to settle with the first three goals of the final term after the Suns had drawn to within 6 points. And then after the Suns had kicked a couple of quick goals to make it interesting, North were able to keep things calm and organised when in the past they had dissolved. Jack Ziebell ended up with 24 touches in a captain's performance in midfield, while Shaun Higgins (28 touches and a goal) and Nathan Hrovat (22 and 2) were the class outside. And the two bookends in Scott Thompson and Ben Brown were fantastic, the former keeping Tom Lynch to "only" three goals and preventing him from dominating the way he has in the past, and the latter taking advantage of the absence of Steven May and Rory Thompson to boot a career-high six goals. His accuracy was again of the highest class, and he continues to develop into a high-quality key forward. He's not flashy, but he gets the job done, and so it was tonight. For the Suns, well, no guesses who was their best. Gary Ablett finished with 45 touches, 9 tackles, a quarter of his team's contested possessions for the match and an uncountable number of clearances. After having his playing future questioned in Round 2, he has played some scintillating football, but this was one of his greatest ever performances. Jarrod Harbrow was also at his speedy best off half-back, Touk Miller had some good moments in midfield, while Alex Sexton and Michael Barlow ran out the game well with 26 and 24 touches respectively. So the Roos leave Sydney as the only winless team in 2017, and finally, after so much agony, get the job done. You can breathe now, North fans.
RooBoy17
Guest
Roo beauty! Been a long time coming, 11 games in fact, but a win is a win! Hope the boys remember the team song?
Pope Paul VII
Guest
North did their best to lose but they'll take it.
Tim Miller
Editor
Goldstein with a brilliant smother on the wing, he gets it to Mullett, on to Dumont, and the siren sounds! North Melbourne 16.11 (107) Gold Coast 14.10 (94) FULL TIME
Tim Miller
Editor
BEHIND GOLD COAST Ablett with his 45th touch out to Ah Chee, he can't mark but can steady and give to Matera in the pocket! Matera misses to the left side. That's probably curtains with 59 seconds left. North Melbourne 16.11 (107) Gold Coast 14.10 (94) Q4,0.59 left
Tim Miller
Editor
GOAL GOLD COAST Suns get the fast break and Bowes unleashes a bomb from the square, and it bounces through! 1.42 left, surely there's not time! North Melbourne 16.11 (107) Gold Coast 14.9 (93) Q4, 1.42 left
Tim Miller
Editor
BEHIND NORTH MELBOURNE Strong mark from Hrovat 40 out, and he milks some time by chipping to McDonald from a similar length. He can't ice the cake with a goal, however, drifting it out to the right. North Melbourne 16.11 (107) Gold Coast 13.9 (87) Q4, 2.02 left
Tim Miller
Editor
BEHIND NORTH MELBOURNE Higgins bouncing down the wing and gives to Wood on the 50. Has a ping, but it bounces offline. Still, a very handy point. North Melbourne 16.10 (106) Gold Coast 13.9 (87) Q4, 2.56 left
Tim Miller
Editor
Lemmens intercepts across half-back and the Suns rebound, ends with Miller but he can't quite find Lynch! The Roos clear. Was that the last chance?
Tim Miller
Editor
4 minutes 51 left, 18 points. Surely the Roos can't let this one slip?
Tim Miller
Editor
CRUNCH! Long ball into the Suns' forward 50, off hands, Hall spins away from Cunnington...and Gibson nails him in a bone-crunching tackle! He's down, too, the wind taken out of him. Superb tackle.
Tim Miller
Editor
GOAL GOLD COAST Suns stay alive! Dumont pressured coming out of defence and turns it over, Hall bangs it back in, offhands and Ablett, who else but Ablett, snaps one towards goal and it bounces through! 42nd possession from Ablett, and the Suns are still kicking! North Melbourne 16.9 (105) Gold Coast 13.9 (87) Q4, 7.09 left