Finals hopes slipping away from North Melbourne after crushing loss to Western Bulldogs

AFTER holding its finals hopes in its own hands, North Melbourne set flame to its September ambition in one of the more extraordinary second-half meltdowns this season has witnessed.

Ben Brown marks in front of Aaron Naughton. Picture: AAP

ACTS of self-sabotage don’t come much more dramatic or consequential.

North Melbourne set flame to its September hopes in one of the more extraordinary second-half meltdowns this season has witnessed.

It was unexpected and it was bizarre, and for the North Melbourne fans it was cruel.

Yet somehow a side that started this season 7-4 — and led the Western Bulldogs by 28 points at halftime — now has finals hopes that are purely mathematical.

North Melbourne could only have torched its finals aspirations more effectively with a box of matches and a tin of kerosene.

At halftime they held their finals hopes in their own hands, needing only to close out the contest, then beat bottom-10 sides Adelaide and St Kilda to seal the finals deal.

At that stage Ben Brown was again back in the Coleman Medal race, the Dogs had been held to three goals and North Melbourne’s players were having a riot of a time.

They should have realised a Bulldogs side celebrating Dale Morris’ 250th game would never go quietly into the night.

Just like Morris should never have brought down the brilliant Lance Franklin in that magical Grand Final moment, they never should have won.

North forward Jarrad Waite crashes heavily into Hayden Crozier. Picture: Getty Images

Somehow, the brilliance of Marcus Bontempelli and his midfield comrades married with North Melbourne incompetence on a grand scale.

The Roos would kick 3.8 in the second half, player after player botching set shots that could have dragged the margin back within range.

In the final minutes of the five-point loss Paul Ahern and Mason Wood were among the offenders as the Dogs found a way to hold on.

If Brown ended up with four goals to get back on Coleman Medal parity, the Dogs knew where North Melbourne was heading at just about every inside 50 opportunity.

By contrast, a Bulldogs side that won the clearances 39-27 through Bontempelli, Lachie Hunter and Jackson Macrae had a multidimensional, unpredictable forward line.

In the third term, they combined perfectly as the Dogs kicked five goals straight and eight of 10 goals for the quarter.

Bontempelli had 14 touches for the term, as Fergus Greene, Patrick Lipinski and Tory Dickson all hit up at the ball.

Off half back the Dogs mixed the smarts of Caleb Daniel and unlikely defender Billy Gowers with the speed of Ed Richards and Jason Johannisen.

And the Roos just couldn’t catch them.

Jason Johannisen gives Mason Wood the slip. Picture: AAP

Instead of a temporary lapse the Bulldogs kept the pedal to the medal in the nailbiting last term, as Lachie Hunter (14 possessions) and Jackson Macrae (13 touches) ensured Morris would have his milestone celebration.

The past four games between these sides have now been decided by two, one, three and five points.

The Dogs had plenty of excuses to roll over at halftime, with Brown’s early opponent Zaine Cordy in hospital with a fractured cheekbone and their summer break only a fortnight or so away.

Instead they showed that not only are they up for the fight, they keep building their stocks of talent by the week.

Fergus Greene kicked 1.4 and one out of bounds on the full but looked a lively roaming target up forward, and we already know what Richards, Aaron Naughton, Brad Lynch and Josh Schache are building.

Shaun Atley feels the pressure from Crozier. Picture: AAP

Bontempelli has recently been left out of the conversation about the game’s best young midfielder with Patrick Cripps and Clayton Oliver all the rage.

Against the Roos, he didn’t just rack up touches, he won them with authority then used his raking left foot to hit long targets and snap a pair of superb goals.

Dickson, trying to win a new deal next year, bobbed up at the right times and the Dogs’ silky movement off half back compensated for the lack of a big power forward.

This could have been one more stepping stone for a North Melbourne side no one ever predicted would make finals this year.

Now Brad Scott will join in brother Chris figuring out ladder permutations that can get his side into September instead of marching to Adelaide with the club’s destiny in the hands of his players.

NORTH MELBOURNE 2.2 9.5 11.10 12.13 (85)

WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.4 4.7 12.9 13.14 (92)

GOALS

Kangaroos: Brown 4, Waite 2, Wood 2, Walker, Turner, Atley, Higgins

Bulldogs: Dickson 3, Bontempelli 2, Schache 2, McLean, Johannisen, Greene, Gowers, Lipinski, Jong

BEST

Kangaroos: Goldstein, Daw, Anderson, Wood, Cunnington

Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Hunter, Macrae, Daniel, Dickson, Dickson

INJURIES

Kangaroos: Nil

Bulldogs: Cordy (fractured skull)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Hosking, Schmitt, Hay

Official crowd: 27,031 at Etihad Stadium

VOTES

3. Marcus Bontempelli

2. Lachie Hunter

1. Jackson Macrae

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