Rhyce Shaw has North Melbourne playing unsociable football

North Melbourne had Collingwood jumping at shadows last Saturday night and the Roos’ renewed toughness under Rhyce Shaw has the competition talking.

Within a month Rhyce Shaw has turned North Melbourne from football’s meekest team into arguably its most fearsome.

The Roos were 18th for tackles under Brad Scott this year and 16th for pressure, a worrying development for a team normally renowned for the tough stuff.

Yet as Alan Richardson said ahead of Sunday’s clash against Shaw’s Roos, they are now getting the competition talking for their brutal, Shinboner-esque attack on the ball.

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No wonder a handful of Collingwood players almost jumped out of the way in such a way that Nathan Buckley’s post-match presser was take-down of his team’s physicality.

“They are playing incredible football,” said St Kilda coach Richardson.

“I spoke to coach who played against them only a couple of weeks ago and said it was the way they attack the opposition, it was as hard as they had seen.”

GWS players were literally so battered and bruised by their contest they couldn’t stop talking about the Roos aggression a week later despite escaping with a hard-fought win.

Shaw’s first game in charge was like a lightning bolt, cleaving Richmond in half.

Collingwood’s Tom Phillips is jumped on by North Melbourne pair Mason Wood and Jack Ziebell last Saturday night. Picture: Getty Images

North Melbourne was again targeting the ball and man — Cam Zurhaar had 11 tackles, Trent Dumont eight, Jack Ziebell seven, Jed Anderson five and Mason Wood five.

They playing the most unsociable brand of football possible under the rules, making their rivals hurt until the wilt.

North Melbourne’s tackle effectiveness has exploded from 16th to fourth.

Champion Data says the definition of an effective tackle is when you stack it after getting your hands on your opponents with the ball.

Ziebell’s move back to the midfield has been instrumental — he has a point improvement of plus-18 from the Scott tenure to Shaw’s tenure.

But all of Zurhaar (plus 13 pressure points), Mason Wood (plus 10.5), Tarryn Thomas (plus 10), Dumont (plus 8.9), Marley Williams (plus 8.5) and Jy Simpkin (plus 5.9) have recorded stark increases.