North Melbourne
Coach – Alastair Clarkson
2024 –
Points For – 16th
Points Against – 18th
Top 5 Best and Fairest
- LDU
- Tristan Xerri
- Harry Sheezel
- Paul Curtis
- Tom Powell
2024 Rising Star Noms
George Wardlaw
Colby McKercher
Jackson Archer
Ins – Caleb Daniel, Jack Darling, Jacob Konstanty, Luke Parker, Finn O’Sullivan, River Stevens, Luke Urquhart, Matt Whitlock
Outs – Blake Drury, Hamish Free, Hugh Greenwood, Sharlie Lazzaro, Bigoa Nguyen, Tyler Sellers, Liam Shiels, Jaidyn Stephenson, Curtis Taylor, Tarryn Thomas
My Prediction
What a trade period for North Melbourne, if this was 6 or 7 years ago, bringing in Parker, Darling and Daniel would be fantastic. Right now, it is little more than an admittance that you shouldn’t have delisted every last shred of leadership you had on the list over the past 5 years. It has been a very lean period at North and that is unlikely to change although this year it will be with extra cheering from Richmond as they wait and see what draft pick they get in exchange for their pick 27.
The backline is still light. Logue is an ok player but I am not sure he can really hold down a key position back spot, Comben had some reasonable games but lacked consistency. I admire the tactical decision to move away from pace in the half back and have McDonald and Daniel both walking off of half back. Jackson Archer was pretty good last year (although his rising star nom felt a little like a charity nod), Aiden Corr is still on an AFL list despite it feeling unbelievable. I would expect O’Sullivan may spend some time off the half back line. The backline is not inspiring and is not where their improvement will come from.
The Roos have ignored conventional wisdom and built from the midfield out. The midfield is going to be a cracker. Bailey Scott, Truck Wardlaw, Sheezel, Powell, McKercher and LDU is a very talented starting midfield brigade. The depth is probably not there but they have the starts of an elite midfield.
The forward line has the bones as well of a good forward line. Larkey is a gun. Darling was a gun and will appreciate playing second fiddle again. I am presuming Parker will play up forward as he works towards retirement. Zurhaar will again promise to be anything whilst delivering little (unless you follow his Instagram in which his cooking looks delicious). Simpkin is a gun and will float up into the middle as well as pinch some goals.
Xerri last year benefitted from the Goldstein sized hole in their list and became one of the premier ruckman in the competition (I wonder if any other teams could follow that lead?). The timing was perfect. Clarko has a resume that few can match and we know despite being a questionable human being, he tends to get the best out of a team of footballers (or at least has in the past). This year, he probably isn’t under pressure but needs still to see a climb up the ladder.
North have been nursed by the AFL and given concessions and support to try and turn them into something more competitive. The second half of last year they were in the position to win a few more games than they did. It wouldn’t take a lot for them to have won another two or three games and I think that is probably where they sit this year. 6-7 wins and that should place them in the 14-16 range.
