Stats show footy has remained the same as 2019 despite shortened quarters, North Melbourne are ‘Hawthorn-like’
Many features remained the same despite shortened quarters in Round 2, but North Melbourne is now a team that is impossible to ignore. And a feature of their game resembles Hawthorn during their three-peat, writes Mark Robinson.
Mark Robinson
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.
That was coined by a French writer in the 17th century and can be easily adopted by football in the 2020.
This was supposed to be the season of change — 16-minute quarters, blitz and risky football, and certain types of players leaving their mark on games.
It hasn't happened.
The best players are still the best players.
Travis Boak, Lachie Neale, Todd Goldstein and Scott Pendlebury lead the AFL Coaches best player award, Max Gawn dominated on Saturday, Charlie Cameron and Michael Walters surged at the Gabba and Joel Selwood tripped up Hawthorn.
The brand of football across the competition over the first two rounds is a mirror image of all of 2019.
The kick-to-handball ratio, mark and play-on percentage, corridor use and boundary-line use and points per 100 minutes of the game barely registered a flicker of change.
Despite the laboriously defensive game between Richmond and Collingwood last Thursday night, which saw both teams kick 36 points each, scores increased from 65.7 to 65.8
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What we have seen, however, is changes at individual clubs.
Like, Adelaide is in a power of hurt, the Bulldogs are a rabble, Geelong has a deeper midfield, the Suns have belief, Port Adelaide play MA rated footy (sexy) and Fremantle aren't pushovers.
Who can't be ignored is North Melbourne.
They are unbeaten after two rounds, beating St Kilda and Greater Western Sydney.
Think of North Melbourne and always it is said they're a pressure team.
That remains true, but they are even better at it.
Their pressure rating against the Saints in Round 1 was 2.03. Their rating against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday was 2.05. Both rank in North's top five pressure games since 2016.
It's the little things, too. Watch how they man the mark and try to force teams down the line. It's Hawthorn-like through their three-peat.
The Giants took only 43 marks for the game, their lowest number in their history.
The shortened quarters played a role, but so, too, did North Melbourne.
What's also not insignificant is North's increased fitness levels.
Seasoned watchers say it's the fittest club has been for years.
They overran St Kilda in the second half and did the same to the Giants at the weekend.
And it came on the back of applying fierce pressure which is energy sapping.
Against arguably the best running and attacking team in the competition, the Kangas beat the Giants at their own game.
Rhyce Shaw's men were +54 uncontested possessions, which is a rare, high number for the Kangas, and were +34 for handball receives.
Fox Footy commentator Dermott Brereton has always argued that measurement — handball receives — is the best at determining which team ran harder for longer.
So, the Kangaroos' pressure stifled the Giants and their spread swallowed them whole. It's a powerful combo.
The pressure and competitiveness at stoppages, against the likes of Coniglio, Kelly, Ward, Whitfield, de Boer and Hopper, was crucial, and might've laid a blueprint for other opposition teams.
Remember, this was the Giants best team minus Tim Taranto.
In the end, it was a runaway win by a team which was challenged in the third quarter and again midway through the final quarter.
And the most exciting part? The Kangaroos' last four goalkickers were kids — Cameron Zurhaar, Curtis Taylor, Bailey Scott and Tarryn Thomas.
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