Rhyce Shaw says struggling Kangas can learn a lot about themselves in crisis time against Port Adelaide

North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw says it might appear a mountain too high for the Kangas but the club will learn alot about itself this weekend when they take on Port Adelaide.

Darren Cartwright

5 min read

September 1, 2020 - 12:07PM

NCA NewsWire

Gold Coast’s Noah Anderson is tackled. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

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Gold Coast has snapped a six-game winless streak with an impressive 10-goal victory over a forlorn North Melbourne at Metricon Stadium on Sunday night.

It was the Suns’ first win since defeating Sydney in round seven and ended a run of five losses and a draw.

It was also the club’s fourth-biggest win in its history.

The victory also puts the Suns within striking distance of either equalling or bettering their best-ever finishing position, which was 12th in 2014 when they won 10 games.

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Gold Coast’s Lachie Weller wraps up North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein in a strong tackle. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

They sit in 13th spot, just half a game adrift of Carlton.

However, climbing as high as 12th will be challenging with matches against Brisbane, Collingwood and Hawthorn to close out the season.

Coach Stuart Dew said it was one thing to win, but it was another to win with authority and his side had fulfilled its task of crushing the Roos.

“We spoke at three-quarter-time about being 34 points up and making sure we got the right habits to finish the game off and nine shots to none (in the last quarter) was the really pleasing part,” Dew said.

“As we’ve seen with other games, 30 points can turn really, really quickly if you give a side a look ... so we didn’t want to open the gate, we wanted to stamp our authority really early.”

He praised the work of pocket dynamo Ben Ainsworth who had 15 score involvements among his equal team-high 23 disposals while pumping the ball inside 50 a game-high nine times.

“He was really good, particularly in the air with 10 or 11 marks, and he presented well,” he said.

Dew said it would be an achievement to rise higher than the club’s best-ever ladder finish of 12th, but that it was not their prime focus over the last three games.

“Playing the way we want to play is important to us and if the byproduct of that is that we finish higher on the ladder, that’s clearly the goal, “ Dew said.

“We want to make sure we test some teams and try to knock some over as we get towards the end of the year because we want to hit the end of the year with momentum.”

The victory also heralded the return to form of Alex Sexton, who snagged four goals from seven disposals.

Sexton was recalled after being omitted for one match and made the most of his opportunities including kicking the only goal in the third term when the Suns added 1.6 and the Roos kicked just three behinds.

“Alex just needed a bit of a reset and really took those opportunities and that’s all we are looking for from Alex,” Dew said.

SHAW AT A LOSS TO EXPLAIN ROOS’ WOES

As for North Melbourne, it failed to score a goal in the second half and the season’s end cannot come quick enough.

The Kangaroos sit in 17th spot with just three wins.

Despondent coach Rhyce Shaw could offer no reasons for their inept effort and failure to score in the last quarter for the second week in a row.

Shaw spoke quietly and without emotion as he hoisted the white flag and said the 10-goal loss “was not an acceptable performance”.

“It’s not and wasn’t good enough,” he said.

“It’s really difficult to sit here and tell you the ins and outs of what happened ... a lot didn’t happen.”

The 63-point margin flattered the Roos, given the Suns missed several routine shots and only kicked 12 goals from 31 scoring attempts.

North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw had no answers post-match for his team’s poor performance. PictJono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Shaw said he was looking for his players to stand-up and respond against Port Adelaide on Saturday at Metricon Stadium.

“The only thing can happen is what the response is because that is essentially where it sits,” Shaw said.

“I’m at a bit of a loss, really.

Dejected Kangas after their abysmal performance against the Gold Coast Suns.

“This week is going to show a lot, tell us a lot about what they (the players) want to do.

“To be honest, as a collective it’s about what our response is going to be next week and how that looks.”

One the flip side, he praised Gold Coast for its endeavour and how hard it worked in both directions to bring about his side’s downfall.

“Gold Coast were exceptional. They were really well drilled. They executed. We didn’t,” Shaw said.

RANKINE’S STOCKS RISE

Gold Coast’s rising star Izak Rankine set the scene early that he would play a major part with five score involvements in the first quarter alone.

Besides slotting the fourth goal of the match, the 20-year-old set-up full forward Max King for an opening quarter major while delivering a perfectly-weighted pass into space for Josh Corbett to mark just 15m out.

Corbett may have failed to capitalise on Rankine’s deft work, but his influence was telling and midway through the term North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw gave Marley Williams the job of minding the creative small forward after he proved too much of a handful for Luke McDonald.

Williams made his presence known, often niggling the young Sun off the ball and his tactics had some effect, with Rankine finishing with just four more score involvements for the match.

Izak Rankine continues to impress for the Suns in his debut season. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

AINSWORTH ON FIRE

If Rankine’s score involvements weren’t impressive enough, Suns small forward Ben Ainsworth took it to another level.

The pocket dynamo had nine score involvements from nine disposals in the first half and by the time the curtain came down that increased to 15 and 23, respectively.

While he had too many involvements to list them all, there was one passage of play that was a standout.

Ainsworth ran onto a high bouncing ball and deftly tapped it into the hands of Alex Sexton who pivoted and slotted through a goal from 40m.

It underlined how much of a thinker Ainsworth is on the field, although if he does have a weakness it is that he misses the gettable shots at goal while nailing the impossible.

Ben Ainsworth played the best game of his career against North Melbourne. Picture: Matt Roberts/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

HALL AND DAW RETURN

The match may not have been much of a spectacle for North Melbourne fans, but it did signal the return of recruit Aaron Hall and strong marking forward Majak Daw after the pair were demoted for two games.

Hall played with intensity, applying some crunching tackles, chasing pressure and even landed a goal in the second quarter.

He did enough to retain his place against Port Adelaide at Metricon Stadium next Saturday.

He was one of the Roos’ better players, although Daw looked out of sorts.

Daw started deep in the forward line and was also the back-up for ruckman Todd Goldstein, but never really imposed himself in the air.

He finished with just one mark, two kicks and seven handballs.