Season 2025 - North Melbourne

North Melbourne

Coach – Alastair Clarkson

2024 –

Points For – 16th
Points Against – 18th

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. LDU
  2. Tristan Xerri
  3. Harry Sheezel
  4. Paul Curtis
  5. 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.

7 Likes

Bottom 5

Just fold and die

4 Likes

They surely won’t be as far from the quality of the 9th-15th pack as they have been in the past, even if their off-season moves are questionable in terms of long-term strategy and value. Could jump to 13th if other clubs have bad runs with injuries, but ultimately I see them finishing 16th. Absolutely dreading our game against them though.

2 Likes

Haven’t they folded yet?

image

1 Like

8 Likes

This will be Nino when they defeat us Rd.8, thus proving undeniably that yet another team has raced passed us…

4 Likes

They may have finally found a role for Will Philips. Subbing him out when he had clamped Naicos probably lost them the game vs Pies.

1 Like

I am convinced their off season moves are questionable in the short term. Parker is an honest, hard working player, Daniel is a classy distributor, however he has been found out of late, while Darling looks proper cooked, his move to Norf being akin to a superannuation payout. Bottom 6 again.

1 Like

I’m pretty sure that’s Clarko when he finds out one of his players partners is pregnant

5 Likes

Bottom 4.

Fold and die

I wouldn’t say they have raced past us. It has taken the club nearly 10 years to rebuild.
2025 will be the year that they do start to push up the table. IMO won’t make finals but won’t be bottom four.

1 Like

I was re-hashing a favourite Blitz meme.

I see it as they realised they had a serious lack of leadership in each line.
They’ve got older heads in to help educate the kids in preparation and standards, if they can add gameday cool heads at either level all the better.

I’ve read some interesting training reports where each of these older guys are taking young leaders for a half hour 1-1 & 1-2 type drills and chat style session after main training.
Could pay off, have to wait and see

Sounds like Wardlaw has done a hamstring.

Poor lad.

He’s super talented. Really super talented. But he’s already having repeat soft tissue issues.

1 Like

He needs to have a chat to Caldwell.

George was a bombers fan and such an awesome under age footy talent .

Perhaps we have dodged a bullet. If he was doing hammies at north - he would be doing them at Essendon.

They’ve got some talented kids no doubt but I’m getting a real whiff of Clako losing his marbles like Sheedy did towards the end of his Essendon tenure

3 Likes

Losing?

1 Like

George had hammy troubles as a junior, and they’ve followed into AFL.
May just be one of those lads, Nathan Freeman if you will.