North by North West Coast: The pursuit of mistaken identity?

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 thriller North by Northwest is a story of mistaken identity about an innocent man being pursued across the United States by an organisation trying to prevent him from foiling their plans.

Well, 2023 brings us a similar story, two innocent teams being stalked across Australia by bloodthirsty rivals trying to prevent them from foiling their September aspirations.

Ok, let us be honest, that was certainly not a good analogy nor a good title. But one thing is certain, North Melbourne and West Coast are certainly feeling the heat this year. Last night’s horror showing for both has brought out all the predictable talking points:

How can you possibly justify bringing in a 19th or 20th team after these games?

How many teams are too many?

Is the talent pool being stretched too thin?

How long is too long for Adam Simpson?

Is Alistair Clarkson really the man for the Roos?

And look, there are legitimate debates to be had on all of these points. But too often, the reactionary nature of AFL media fuelled by armchair experts on social media, BigFooty and even this website (this author included) is quick to make grandiose claims without considering the nuances of where these two teams are.

So, let us do just that. Starting with the West Coast Eagles. And look I am certainly prepared to give the Eagles some slack given their anxiety inducing injury list.

Who can honestly say they would expect their team to remain competitive if they lost the equivalent of Dom Sheed, Luke Shuey, Elliot Yeo, Jeremy McGovern, Nic Naitanui, Shannon Hurn, Liam Ryan and Jamie Cripps amongst others combined with barely being able to string together a reserves team in the WAFL.

Even if they were to get all those key players back, there is certainly no guarantee their on-field fortunes would improve in the short-term.

While the Eagles managed to be competitive for around a quarter and a half, it quickly fell away as they were comprehensively outplayed in the second half by a ruthless Carlton who themselves desperately needed a win after two disappointing performances again Adelaide and St Kilda.

Jai Culley of the Eagles. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Outside of last night, things remain less certain. There is certainly a sense that the club needs a fresh start with question marks surrounding the future of coach Adam Simpson and CEO Trevor Nisbett as well as the long-term viability of many favourite sons, quite a number of whom are currently occupying their injury list.

Speaking on the Sunday Footy Show, panellist Damian Barrett referred to the club’s attitude during the 2020 season as setting the scene for the club’s current woes.

No doubt COVID was hard on all eighteen clubs as well as the wider community, but to an extent he had a point, with the club’s perceived whining and poor attitude contrasting with the other clubs trying their hardest to make the best of an unpleasant situation.

A change in CEO and Coach (both of whom are not out of contract at season’s end) will not resolve all their issues but it may just be what is needed to get the ball rolling and begin to confront the tough questions that lay ahead.

With that let us move over to North Melbourne. Life under Alastair Clarkson started off promisingly, with close wins at the hands of West Coast and Fremantle sparking hope that the dark days of the past two years were behind them.

A loss to Hawthorn in Launceston slowed that momentum however the Roos, at times undermanned in defence, managed to put in reasonably competitive efforts against much fancied opponents in Carlton, Brisbane, and Gold Coast.

Last night’s demolition was hardly surprising going up against a flag favourite in the Demons, what was perhaps less surprising however was the lack of effort displayed during the early stages of the game.

It would have been deflating for North as a team under siege to be putting in the effort the last few weeks for no reward, but that does not excuse the lack of effort displayed by senior players in Nick Larkey and Cam Zurhar to name a few nor the lack of professionalism from Jaidyn Stephenson.

Say what you want about Razor Ray or the dissent rule (I am a fan of neither) but by the letter of the rules both 50 metre penalties were there, and it was plain stupid of Stephenson, a senior player who should know better, to try and argue the point.

Luke McDonald and Alastair Clarkson. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

There is a part of me that thinks the North Melbourne hierarchy believed that Clarkson was this sort of magic bullet. Get him and all your problems just disappear.

And while it is fair to say he is having a better impact than his predecessor David Noble, it is also true that the club has a long way to go both on and off-field. On-field now, it sort of is what it is, we are watching a club going through a rebuild.

Getting excited by the emergence of future stars in Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw and Will Phillips, hoping the likes of Nick Larkey, Cam Zurhar and Jy Simpkin amongst others can take their games to the next level and wondering how much more the club can get out of loyal stalwarts in Todd Goldstein, Jack Ziebell and Ben Cunnington.

Off-field, it could be worse, crowds and membership numbers are not huge, but they are somewhat healthy given the club’s lack of success and them being among the smallest of the Melbourne-based clubs.

What is more troubling however is the club’s handling of Tarryn Thomas, a young man whose attitude is yet to match his talent.

Bring him back to the club and potentially alienate sections of your fans and even staff who may feel uncomfortable given his pending legal issues.

Terminate his contract and again alienate sections of your fans and wider community amid concerns around duty of care and support being offered to him. I do not have an easy answer for how to solve this problem and it feels like you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

I guess the point I am trying to make, albeit poorly, is that whilst club’s do not end up anchored at the bottom of the ladder and getting smashed weekly overnight, neither do they get themselves out of that position overnight. Both West Coast and North Melbourne are going to need time to turn things around, and it is going to require the patience of both administrators and the fans themselves.

The question really is going to be how long that patience will last.

If I can leave you with any final words of comfort, it would be to remember that the teams you lost to last night, Carlton and Melbourne, both spent the best part of the last decade themselves anchored to the bottom, copping 100+ point demolitions on what seemed like a weekly basis and facing questions about their own identity and existence.

Patience, time and good decision making allowed them to change their fortunes, so too for you if you allow it.