Opinion
North Melbourne are into their third year of a complete rebuild and as you would expect, the last two years have been nasty for the Kangaroo faithful with finishes of 17th and 18th, with only seven wins coming from a possible 39 games.
The Kangaroos started 2021 with eight losses consecutively – as well as a 128-point defeat to the eventual grand finalist the Western Bulldogs, before improving as the season went along.
They won three of their last nine and the biggest losing margin in those nine games was 44 points, a marked improvement on the first half of the season. Which begs the question, can North Melbourne get off the bottom rung of the ladder, or will they continue to languish in the bottom four?
North Melbourne best 22
B: Aidan Corr, Ben McKay, Jack Ziebell
HB: Luke McDonald, Josh Walker, Aaron Hall
C: Jaidyn Stephenson, Ben Cunnington, Tom Powell
HF: Tarryn Thomas, Cameron Zurhaar, Jason Horne-Francis
F: Callum Coleman-Jones, Nick Larkey, Jack Mahony
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Jy Simpkin
I/C: Will Phillips, Jed Anderson, Hugh Greenwood, Aiden Bonar
Defence
The North Melbourne defence obviously leaked big scores last season after winning the wooden spoon. This wasn’t helped by the fact that Robbie Tarrant only played ten games, Aidan Corr only played two games, and Luke McDonald only played 11 games.
The big loss is Robbie Tarrant, who left Arden Street to head to Punt Road. He was arguably still their best defender at the ripe old age of 32 and is just rarely beaten nor makes many mistakes. He leaves a void of both talent and experience which will be hard to replace.
Aidan Corr will be the one expected to replace him, or at least do a serviceable job so his loss won’t be felt so much. His best football is solid enough to match it with most second or third tall forwards and he’ll need to have a career-best season for this North Melbourne defence to stand up.
Aidan Corr is one of the Roos’ most underrated players. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Luke McDonald is one of the more underrated players in the competition, considering he is fantastic in one-on-one situations, he is a beautiful kick of the ball, and he also intercepts the ball very well for his height. He had a career-best season in 2020 where he ranked eighth in total rebound 50s for any player and if he can get back to that level of play, he should be a huge inclusion if he can play a full season.
Ben McKay is the most important defender in this back six and probably the most important player in the side considering the lack of depth they have in the position. He was rarely beaten by any key forward in the second half of the season and having only played 37 games so far in his career, one would expect him to improve dramatically again and hopefully become one of the best defenders in the competition.
Aaron Hall and Jack Ziebell were terrific last season and were the strength of this team with their run out of defence. They will be expected to produce that again in 2022 and there’s no reason they can’t.
Essentially, the problem with this defence is their lack and talent of key defenders. Can Joshua Walker and Aidan Corr be trusted to match up against the likes of Jack Riewoldt, Jeremy Cameron, Oscar Allen, Charlie Curnow, and Ben Brown? I’ve got my doubts and based on previous form and from what we’ve seen I think you would have to agree that it’s a huge concern.
Midfield
I might sound like a broken record, but the midfield got comprehensively smashed last season, ranking 14th in clearances per game, 16th in inside 50s per game, and 14th in tackles per game.
The improvement must come from the youngsters who are expected to improve again into 2022. Jy Simpkin is already a very good league footballer who averaged essentially 27 disposals a game last season, as well as ranking ninth in total centre clearances and 18th in total inside 50s.
He needs to improve again and become a player like Darcy Parish or Sam Walsh to really cement himself as the leader of this team and as one of the best players in the competition.
The spotlight must be on Luke Davies-Uniacke as a North Melbourne supporter. The former No.4 pick has been at the club for four seasons now and just played his 50th game at the end of last season.
He was much better at the end of last year and ended up averaging 21 disposals a game. There’s been a steady increase over the journey, and this is the year where he needs to bump up those averages to somewhere like a Jy Simpkin so he can support the young guys with his big frame and therefore start to form the next midfield for the next premiership tilt.
Ben Cunnington will be expected to just do what he does, and that is win the contested ball, help the younger guys out with leadership and be one of the more feared players in the competition.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Hugh Greenwood will also adapt to a similar type of role and was a very shrewd pick-up from the Kangaroos who do need that support around the contest.
Tarryn Thomas is one who you can’t help but be excited about. He was terrific last season, averaging 18 disposals per game and kicking 24 goals for the season in just his third year. He will be expected to improve again, and he is the guy I think North Melbourne should be building around more than anyone else.
Once he improves his tank, it wouldn’t surprise to see him become somewhat Nathan Fyfe-like (although shorter) and become that big midfielder who’s a terrific mark, kicks goals, and wins contested ball. He is the complete package of the modern midfielder.
It feels strange talking about a guy who hasn’t played a game but the hype surrounding the No.1 pick in Jason Horne-Francis is extraordinary. Other clubs were willing to sell their soul to get that pick in last year’s draft and by all reports, he is a generational type of player.
Of course, it’s hard to know what he is going to do in his first season, and he needs to prove himself at the level, but it wouldn’t surprise to see him be a Sam Walsh type.
The midfield is very talented, and several of the young guys should be ready to improve and become very good AFL players. Mix this in with the old brigade in there like Cunnington, Greenwood, and Anderson and there will be plenty of midfields they can get the better of.
Attack
The North Melbourne forward line struggled last year, but it is hard to kick goals as a forward when the midfield isn’t getting you the ball and when it is coming in, it is hurried and without much system.
The attack will be led by a rising star in Nick Larkey who was terrific last season. He kicked 32 goals for the season and was terrific in the second half of the season, which coincided with the ball movement being much more free-flowing and purposeful – kicking 21 goals in the last seven games.
He will turn 24 this season and should be about to enter his prime so it wouldn’t shock to see him kicking upwards of 50 goals for the season.
The problem with the forward line is the second tall option. They kept playing Zurhaar as a second tall type again last season and even though he’s a good player, he is just too small to play that role at 189cm.
Cameron Zurhaar (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
David Noble tried to play Tristan Xerri in the role in the second half of the season for only one goal from eight games in what was a failed experiment and one that left the Kangaroos bereft of options.
That’s why they turned to Tiger Tall Callum Coleman-Jones. The Tigers internally always had a big opinion of Jones and after only nine games of football across three seasons, he decided to go for the certain game time at Arden Street.
He showed glimpses of being a very good player last year at times for the Tigers and turning 23 this year, and after learning in one of the best developmental systems in the competition, North Melbourne will be expecting him to at least contribute somewhere around that 25-30 goal range throughout the year and take some much-needed pressure off Larkey.
He could turn out to be an inspired recruit, considering what they gave up for him.
This will allow the likes of Zurhaar to get the third-best defender every week and even Tarryn Thomas when he pushes forward to get a much easier (and shorter) match-up so he can use his size.
The Kangaroos have a bunch of small forwards who have played throughout the last couple of years, but none of them have really cemented their spot in the best 22. Curtis Taylor was poor last season, only contributing seven goals from 18 games, Will Phillips was still learning but didn’t hit the scoreboard, and Jack Mahony and Bailey Scott only contributed eight and nine goals respectively.
I expect Jaidyn Stephenson to play more forward minutes this year, but besides that, North is going to have to see one of those guys improve ten-fold for them to address the small forward position. Will Phillips and Bailey Scott are the guys with the most talent and in all likelihood are going to be the two who must stand up.
Prediction
It will be another rebuilding year for the Kangaroo faithful and with that comes major holes in the side. The lack of a second key defender and forward still needs to be addressed and I don’t think it has been, while the small forwards have been essentially terrible for the best part of two seasons and even though there’s a lot of youth in there, I’m not sure they’ve got the talent to cut it at the level.
There is light at the end of the tunnel for the Kangaroos, but they’ll be in the bottom four again, all but being much more competitive across the course of the season.
Predicted finish: 15th.
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