Gary Buckenara analyses North Melbourne’s list after the 2021 AFL season

The future looks brighter than it has for years at North Melbourne, writes Gary Buckenara. A big name free agent would top off their list build. Can the Roos attract one?

As the 2021 season got underway, the Kangaroos looked in all sorts of trouble.

New coach David Noble must have wondered whether he had walked into a nightmare.

But to the credit of everyone at North Melbourne, they stayed the course and, by season’s end, there had been some very good wins and, most importantly for the club and supporters, some great signs of hope for the future.

The Kangaroos have invested in the draft and played younger players and the benefits of this have been clear.

With the faith shown in playing the kids, you can see the belief growing among the younger players – they believe they belong at AFL level.

The Kangaroos need to stick to this formula. They need to keep their early picks and keep investing in the draft over the next few years and then it might be time to look at a few trades for experienced A or B grade players.

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First-year North Melbourne coach David Noble. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos

If they can also attract a big name or two as free agents, this would be a huge bonus as well.

But we have seen players reluctant to go there as they have not been seen as a “destination club” with finals on the horizon any time soon.

Given the Roos’ improvement towards the end of 2021, this could change.

Overall, North Melbourne supporters should feel far more positive looking towards 2022 than they were for season 2021 at the same time last year.

I have been critical of the Kangaroos over the past two-to-three years, but their fortunes seem to be turning around, and Noble and his support staff must be applauded for that.

LIST NEEDS

The Roos need to keep investing in the draft for the next two years and keep hold of their early draft picks.

They need young talent with elite skills and decision-making, and midfielders with pace, endurance and skill.

TRADE TARGETS

I would not entertain trading any early picks, so that would rule out being active in the trade period this year.

But like everything, it is wise to never say never. If they were to go down that path, it would need to be a top-line player, under 25 and willing to go to North if they were to look at trading an early pick.

MORE: EVERY NORTH PLAYER RATED, CONTRACT STATUS

Tarryn Thomas of the Kangaroos. Pic: Michael Klein

RATING THE LIST

WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN

List management is one of the most important jobs at an AFL club.

Poor decisions can be catastrophic — and Collingwood proved that last year.

Far too many clubs can often hold an overly-optimistic view when ranking their own lists and this can lead to years of mediocrity and has Carlton done this recently?

When clubs are rating their lists, they should rank players as: A+, A, B+, B, C+, C and Development.

In this list analysis, I have just done A, B, C and two tiers of development (“future AB players” and “need more time”) because with the younger players it is important to see who is coming through and those that need more time.

The important area for clubs to look at is how many A and B ranked players they have, as well as future consistent AB players.

These rankings are my opinions, but they should give supporters a reasonable snapshot as to where their playing list sits now — and how they might look in a few years’ time.

Players 22 and over

A-grade: Elite players on any AFL list

B: Top 10-18 player on most lists

C: An 19-30 player on a list

DEVELOPING (AGED 21 OR UNDER)

Future AB players: These are players that will hopefully develop into an A or B ranked player once they turn 22. They might be playing to this level now, but it takes sustained years.

Need more time: These players would be a player recently drafted that is still developing and therefore will need more time to see if he is likely to develop into an A or B grade player.

North Melbourne’s Jared Polec. Pic: Michael Klein

ROOS LIST RATINGS

A: Ben Cunnington, Todd Goldstein

B: Jaidyn Stephenson, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Jed Anderson, Aidan Corr, Jack Ziebell, Luke McDonald, Jy Simpkin, Trent Dumont, Nick Larkey, Ben McKay, Robbie Tarrant, Aaron Hall, Cameron Zurhaar

C: Taylor Garner, Jared Polec, Lachie Young, Shaun Atley, Josh Walker, Dom Tyson, Will Walker, Kayne Turner, Connor Menadue, Tristan Xerri, Tom Campbell

DEVELOPING

Future AB players: Curtis Taylor, Bailey Scott, Aiden Bonar, Tarryn Thomas

Need more time: Jack Mahony, Atu Bosenavulagi, Tom Powell, Will Phillips, Charlie Comben, Patrick Walker, Charlie Lazzaro, Phoenix Spicer, Kyron Hayden, Flynn Perez, Eddie Ford, Matt McGuinness, Charlie Ham, Jacob Edwards

LIST BREAKDOWN

A Grade = 2

B Grade = 13

C Grade = 11

Developing

Future AB players = 4

Need more time = 14

UNTOUCHABLES

All the A, B and D+ ranked players. But they need to look carefully at the rest of their list and continue to develop the young players, and identify those likely to develop into A or B in the future.

Some may well be late developers. This is the challenge of list management to balance list needs with development, without being impatient with younger players.

MORE BUCKY: WHY PIES SHOULD CONSIDER DE GOEY TRADE

Luke Davies-Uniacke. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

TRADE BAIT

I don’t think they can afford to offload any A or B grade talent at this stage and they will want to keep all their Future AB players, so I can’t really see them playing a big role in the trade period.

UNDER THE PUMP

The players in the C category are the ones who will be under the pump to stay on the list.

But players like Taylor Garner, Shaun Atley (when fit), Jared Polec, Josh Walker, Dom Tyson (when fit), Kayne Turner and Tristan Xerri can play an important role in adding depth to help develop the younger group.

Apologies to the rest, some of these will be casualties in finding space for younger players in 2022.

MORE BUCKENARA LIST RATINGS

Collingwood: The kids who must power up Pies’ next chapter

Ben Cunnington is one of two North Melbourne A-graders. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

CRYSTAL BALL

Let’s hope season 2022 continues to build on the positive finish to 2021 and the Roos can find some players in the national draft and, who knows, maybe snare a nice free agent as a bonus.

The club’s depth is thin and luck with injuries in 2022 will be needed. But I was really pleased to see the improvement they showed towards the end of this year and, more importantly, there were signs the “Shinboners” spirit is starting to gain momentum again.

They are still a few years away from a possible top-eight position, as long as they continue on the path of investing in talented young players with their first, second and third-round picks. They might find a free agent interested but I would not be giving up any of the above picks in trades.

Things can turn quickly if they make good list management and recruiting decisions over the next two years, there are some positive signs at last for Kangaroos supporters.

Originally published as Gary Buckenara analyses North Melbourne’s list after the 2021 AFL season