North Melbourne
Coach – Brad Scott
2017 –
Points For – 9th
Points Against – 16th
Top 5 Best and Fairest
- Shaun Higgins
- Ben Cunnington
- Ben Brown
- Robbie Tarrant
- Luke McDonald
2017 Rising Star Noms
Nil
Ins – Alex Morgan, Tom Jeffries, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Will Walker, Kyron Hayden, Tristan Xerri, Billy Hartung, Tom Murphy, Gordon Narrier
Outs – Andrew Swallow, Lindsay Thomas, Lachie Hansen, Will Fordham, Matt Taylor, Sam Gibson, Aaron Mullett, Corey Wagner
My Prediction
North Melbourne look like becoming a cautionary tale as to what happens when you through everything at a premiership tilt without enough planning for the future. They have a bunch of middle of the road players, one or two really good players and a lot of plodders. The rebuild here is going to take a while.
The backline if probably the heart of their problems. They can talk about Tarrant but realistically he has had one really good season and you wouldnt build a backline around him. It says a lot about the Roos that Scott Thompson has been retained. In an age where a lot of attack is set up from the half back, you would want to have a lot better players than Marley Williams and Atley setting up that attack.
The midfield is thin now as well. Cunnington and Ziebell make a handy one two, after that it gets bad. You can see why they threw so much money at Kelly and Dusty. You can also see why they said no. Davies-Uniacke should get plenty of minutes this year and is a good young player. Higgins gives them polish but will e nudging 30 when the season kicks off and isnt known for his durability
The forward line is the shining light, Ben Brown is a star and getting better. Mason Wood is a very good player and they need him to stay on the park. Jy Simkin is a very good small forward but very young and raw. Waite will play 8-10 very good games for them next year.
The rucks looked like they were set before Goldstein fell off the cliff. Preuss is raw but is a huge kid and I would be playing him before I played the Todd. Daw is worth a highlight every now and then but realistically probably has no right being on an AFL list.
For mine, this is the worst list in the AFL and not by a small margin. Unless their cheque book can snag some significant talent over the next year or two, the rebuild is going to take a very long time. I can’t see them avoiding the Wooden Spoon this year (I have been wrong many times before).