Sam Gibson goes from Mr Unknown to semi-fina match-winner for North Melbourne
AMID the truly remarkable spectacle of North Melbourne’s win over Geelong, a question has to be asked: anyone see Sam Gibson?
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AMID the truly remarkable spectacle on Friday night, a question has to be asked: Anyone see Sam Gibson?
While Tom Hawkins powered his way through the final quarter, carrying his teammates on his prodigious frame to what would have been a win for the ages, it was North Melbourne who marched into the preliminary final.
They play Sydney next week and they’ll soon enough start planning for that.
First of all, they have to deal with Friday night.
Celebrate it, review it and have nightmares about it, mainly about big Tommy muscling his team through a final quarter which was tense and tantalising and a reminder why finals footy is the best this sport can offer.
The Kangaroos won because they were in control for all but the final 10 minutes of the game. And when the Cats surged and the Kangaroos were able to resist - just. But just is all that matters in a cut-throat final.
It’s why the first 110 minutes in a match are as important as the final 10 minutes and it was in those initial three and half quarters where the likes Gibson, Dal Santo, Goldstein, Thomas, Greenwood, McDonald, Wright and Cunnington were the stronger combatants.
Gibson is Mr Unknown.
He’s 28, 185cm and 85 kegs. He has brown hair, a plain face, no tattoos, a reliable right foot, a sore right hand and, today, a smile on his face.
He isn’t theatric like Lindsay Thomas, or have a mop-top like the Brown boy, and doesn’t wear green boots like Dal Santo.
He is known by North Melbourne supporters and opposition coaches, who certainly know who Sam Gibson is because Gibson racked up possession No.600 for the season.
For all his plainness, Gibson has a few positives.
His wife is a model, he has a degree in engineering, the fitness staff say he’s a freak at endurance running and on Friday night he was on the podium with Goldstein and Dal Santo as North Melbourne’s bets players.
He didn’t kick three first-quarter goals like Thomas, or dominate hit outs like Goldstein, or be super smooth and efficient like Dal Santo. No, he was more than that
At half-time, he had had 24 disposals, 10 kicks and 14 handballs. Twelve of his 14 disposals were contested which, in a final, shows his mettle. In the first hour, his opponents were Motlop, Stokes, Enright, Duncan briefly Thurlow. He munched Motlop, having nine dispoals to one in 17 minutes total.
He had eight touches in the third quarter and Bartel, Guthrie and Walker had a crack, and another three in the final quarter. Either he got lost like most of his teammates when the Cats surged or he was exhausted.
Gibson’s workrate is phenomenal.
Before Dal Santo’s goal in the third quarter, Gibson was on the move for a full minute.
He ran criss-cross the wing trying to woo the short kick from half-back. The kick went long so Gibson ran up the wing line to cover the turnover. Cunnington won the ball near the boundary, had his kick half smothered and two Cats and a Kangaroo fought for the loose ball. The ball was spat out, Gibson had kept running, picked up the ball, gave the handball to Dal Santo who kicked the goal who raised his arms like Moses receiving the commandments.
Dal Santo supplied the magic, Gibson had done the hard yards yet again.
The same happened when Petrie goaled in the third quarter, to give North a lead by 31 points. Guess who dragged down Josh Walker on the Souther Stand wing, won the free kick, and kicked inside 50m, where Petrie kicked the goal? Yep, Gibson again,
When everyone else ran to Petrie, who had his hands in the air like Moses, Gibson walked to a trainer for a gulp of water. One player ran to him, the young fella Luke McDonald.
Others will get the plaudits and rightly so.
If someone said today that was Dal Santo’s best final ever, you couldn’t disagree. Or if someone said that was Goldstein’s most important game, you couldn’t disagree, either. Or Thomas’ first quarter. Or Petrie’s best final. Or McDonald’s first final. Yep, nods of approval abound.
But don’t underestimate Gibson’s game.
He finished with 35, a team-high 15 contested disposals, five tackles, six clearances, six inside 50s and very sore calves and hamstrings.
The Cats will have sore heads. Not because they were bashed but because they will be frustrated to the point of migraine. Their skill level in the first half was so uncommon it was horrendous and being a kick short at the end of the game is no-one else’s fault except their own.
North was fierce early and although the Cats seemed mortally wounded at times, they couldn’t be killed off.
Indeed, they are some sort of club Geelong.
And to all those asking if this is the end of an era, it’s worth asking: When did the last era end and this era start. By my thinking, it started in Round 1 this year and to be a kick off a preliminary final suggests the Cats will be thereabouts for several years to come.
As for North, their era is off and running.
Originally published as Sam Gibson goes from Mr Unknown to semi-fina match-winner for North Melbourne
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