Wayne Carey and Brad Scott have reassessed North Melbourne as a ‘destination club’ in 2018.
These comments are in light of their inability to snare players such as Dustin Martin, Josh Kelly, Adam Treloar and Dan Hannebery, each of which were offered insanely long and lucrative contracts to move to Arden Street.
North’s chairman Ben Buckley has publicly stated that North will continue to search for big signings this year, and reports have linked the Kangaroo’s to West Coast’s Andrew Gaff and Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey.
North’s failure to land any of these players is often connected to Arden Street’s unattractiveness.
North is frequently compared to the ‘destination clubs’, such as Collingwood and Hawthorn who have been able to attract recruits with much regularity. Players such as Brian Lake, Adam Trealor and James Frawley have asserted that future success drove their decision.
Brad Scott, Senior Coach of the Kangaroos (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
A sentiment that Brad Scott claims North Melbourne has addressed in 2018, but have they?
North Melbourne currently sits inside the top eight but has been heavily reliant on players in 2018 that are in the twilights of their careers.
Shaun Higgins has established himself as one of the premier half-forwards in the competition but turned 30 this year and given his history with injuries, it is questionable as to how much longer the former Bulldog has left.
Other key players such as Scott Thompson, Todd Goldstein, Jarrad Waite, and Robbie Tarrant are also close to or over 30.
It would be far-fetched to say that North Melbourne will push themselves into the premiership window in the coming years.
Another lure of the ‘destination clubs’ is stature. Club’s such as Collingwood and Richmond attract massive crowds and participate in many annually anticipated fixtures such as Anzac Day and Dreamtime at the G. It is unsurprising that these clubs are comfortably the first and second highest attended clubs.
North Melbourne sits fourth last in 2018 for average crowd size and has decreased from 2017. Additionally, outside of finals, North Melbourne players are sporadically exposed to packed crowds and hotly awaited fixtures.
It is unsurprising that players such as Tom Lynch, Andrew Gaff, Rory Sloane and Jeremy McGovern have been linked to Richmond, Hawthorn, and Collingwood.
Despite North Melbourne’s intentions to again pursue a ‘big fish’, it would be not be astounding to see them come up empty-handed again.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Your referencing of me is a call for conflict. Talk to anon directly without calling me in.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I didn't come here for a fight, Don. I came here to correct anon's comments and help you out. Have a nice weekend.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
You do it all the time. The thing is, you are so unpleasant in each of your posts such comments are never valued. You'd be better with your original course of action. Don't interact with those that think you are a dill.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I rarely correct anyone — just those who do it to others, as you have on countless occasions. You'll do well to remember that Mr English teacher. Of course, it's not often I make mistakes, but in the unlikely event that I do, I'm open to constructive criticism to better myself. I've even taken some of the criticism directed at me by Paul onboard hopefully making me a better person and contributor on this site. Enjoy the footy. GO CATS!
Lroy
Guest
Well in fairness, he did play in a couple grand finals, at least he was there on the big day. That's why all players are in the game, to play on the biggest stage of all. Pies nearly won it on one of those occasions, its not like they were cellar dwellers while he was there.. Nobody could have predicted the Lions would morph into the powerhouse they became so Bucks leaving early was probably fair enough based on his ambitions and ability Dean Laidley won a flag for North after getting cut by the Eagles, given a choice Im sure he would have preferred to stay, but it turned out alright for him in the end. Did Dean Laidley have a better career than Nathan Buckley?? Based on their abilities both of them would be pretty happy with what they achieved.
Don Freo
Guest
Oh, he is always wrong with his personal snipes...as he was then. His feigned offence at my blunt comeback to his slight or the resort to spelling correction (most of us are flicking messages on phones in spare moments) is an indication of his anon-ness.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Self-aggrandisement definitely has two g’s Donald Rick is arrogant as hell but he’s rarely wrong so he can afford to be
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
That's right. It is ...again. Yet another example of your failure at simple humanity.
Don Freo
Guest
It's wrong.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
That's self-aggrandisement. Get a dictionary Mr English teacher.
Paul D
Roar Guru
https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/H/Hayden_Ballantyne.html According to this he has played every game for Freo in 2018? Oh never mind I missed round 11. Who did you play then?
Don Freo
Guest
I just told you.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Hang on - hasn’t Ballantyne played every game for Freo this season? When was he dropped?
Don Freo
Guest
You do need to be told this. There are many gaps in your understanding which you demonstrate in your attempts at self-agrandisement. When you talk footy, you're not bad but the rest advertises your limitations.
Don Freo
Guest
I'm referring to 3 games ago.
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
Walters will come in for Blakely, who's done a 6 week knee. I don't see anyone being dropped.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Am assuming you're referring to the first half of 2017? I do remember your lot getting beaten by 100 points at Adelaide Oval and getting beaten by us at the Gabba during that period. However I also recall Freo suffering a pair of 100 point losses against Richmond and Sydney towards the end of 2017. Doesn't sound like a great deal of urgency regardless.
Don Freo
Guest
As you can see below, Paul, people like Jonboy seem to think Ballas and Sunny play the same role because they are small and are forwards. They don't. Ballas is playing the role. When he was dropped, we were rudderless up front. When he came back, we had attacking urgency and defensive urgency.
Don Freo
Guest
My goodness. I'm certain you don't know who they are or what they have done.
Jon Boy
Guest
Agree on Switkowski hopefully we see him before seasons end . Freo do not want or need Ian Hill or Michael Bennell.