North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw says Kangaroos are nowhere near his pre-season expectations

North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw had high hopes for his side, but they have failed to come close to his pre-season expectations. See his thoughts on the Kangaroos’ disappointing loss and where he believes the club is at.

Matt Turner

@mattturner1986

4 min read

September 12, 2020 - 8:08PM

It was a dirty day at the office for North Melbourne. Picture: Michael Klein

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In February, North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw made the bold call that it would be a failure if his side did not play finals this year.

Seven months on, the Kangaroos are second-bottom with a 3-13 record and Shaw says it is not up to AFL standard.

The gap between his pre-season expectation and the on-field reality was again exposed in the club’s second 10-goal defeat in three games – a 64-point loss to Fremantle that Shaw called “really disappointing” and “not a great look”.

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“The AFL is an elite competition and at the moment we’re not up to standard,” Shaw said.

“I own that (pre-season prediction) and that’s where I thought (the club could get to) but obviously we haven’t got to that point and nowhere near it.

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Rhyce Shaw was very disappointed with his side’s performance post-match. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“We played some pretty good footy at the start of the year but that’s a long, long time ago.

“We’re 17th on the ladder and we’ve got to make change and we will make change.

“Today wasn’t good enough.”

Shaw said his team “played in fits and spurts” against the Dockers, who outworked them.

“Our group’s a really proud group and we’ve been hit from pillar to post this year in a number of areas and it got to that point today where Freo worked really hard and they showed us up and it’s not good enough,” he said.

Shaw cited younger players getting more opportunities, including Luke Davies-Uniacke being pitted against Nat Fyfe for parts of the match, 14th-gamer Ben McKay playing on Matt Taberner and father/son draftee Bailey Scott featuring in his 16th match for the club, as among the only positives.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir hailed his team’s display, which came after it was up early on Saturday morning to fly two hours from Cairns to play its fourth game in 15 days.

“On the back of the obstacles that were thrown at us, it was a really mature performance,” Longmuir said.

“I’m so proud of the whole club today.”

Longmuir said Michael Walters had a “really good moment in his career” when he took accountability for his frustrations last week and was getting reward for his improved leadership.

Damning stats for lifeless Roos in shellacking

Fremantle fans can start getting excited about next season but North Melbourne supporters must be seriously concerned about how their club is playing.

The Dockers took another step in a promising first campaign under Justin Longmuir on Saturday, recording their biggest victory and highest score of the year in a 64-point thumping at Metricon Stadium.

For the Kangaroos, the performance was damning.

This was a side during pre-season said it that expected to play finals and seven months later it could hardly be further away from that.

North only laid 13 tackles in the first half and its pressure rating to the main break was its lowest for the season.

The Kangaroos also scored just 2.2 across the opening two quarters – their equal-worst halftime score of the season – while conceding 7.4 to the usually low-scoring Dockers.

There were some signs of life early in the third term when North’s pressure lifted and it kicked a quick goal.

It was a dirty day at the office for North Melbourne. Picture: Michael Klein

But once Matt Taberner responded with a major for the Dockers, the Kangaroos fell away again.

It was their biggest loss of the year – three rounds after going down by 63 to another bottom-10 side, Gold Coast.

If the season stretched for another few weeks, North would likely finish bottom, given Adelaide’s recent form.

Instead, the end of the campaign cannot come soon enough for Rhyce Shaw’s team.

STATISTICAL SHELLACKING

These statistics do not make easy reading for North Melbourne.

It lost contested possessions 123-95, contested marks 19-6, disposals 334-241, inside 50s 52-35, clearances 29-23, tackles 41-35, marks inside 50 13-6 and had nine more turnovers than the Dockers.

Fremantle also had a huge 94-48 advantage in total marks, as North lacked the pressure to stop it from playing its possession-based game with ease.

The Kangaroos also never led during the match.

A little bit of hang time for Michael Walters ðŸ‘€#AFLNorthFreo pic.twitter.com/oXeD0LWpqW
— AFL (@AFL) September 12, 2020

LIKE A FINE WINE

He is 35 and the fourth-oldest player in the league but David Mundy continues to play great footy.

The veteran midfielder was everywhere against the Kangaroos, registering 24 disposals and five clearances.

Mundy tends to start each quarter on the bench but has been having an influence as soon as he comes onto the field.

With Nat Fyfe (24 touches, six clearances) and Michael Walters (three goals), he is adding star power and experience to a young team that is clearly on the rise.

David Mundy is experiencing a career renaissance. Picture: Michael Klein

GOAL DROUGHT’S OVER

Jesse Hogan went from not having kicked a goal this season to kicking four in a match for the first time since Round 20, 2018, when he was with Melbourne.

A 50m penalty 17 minutes into the first quarter gifted Hogan his first major since June 15 last year and he added three more from six touches for the game.

North’s Taylor Garner also ended his personal goal drought, playing in his first match for 386 days after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Garner booted the Kangaroos’ opening major of the fourth term when he marked and finished from 40m.

Jesse Hogan broke his goal streak with four majors. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

SNAP HAPPY

Players kicking around the corner on slight angles, rather than doing drop punts, is nothing new in footy but it is becoming more prevalent and execution seems to be poorer than ever.

In the first quarter, Matt Taberner played on from a mark and snapped on his left foot from just 25m and missed a relatively simple shot.

The following term, Nick Larkey sprayed his snap wayward across the face of goal and did not register a score.

Even more experienced stars Tom Hawkins and Jack Riewoldt have butchered around-the-corner kicks in recent games.

It looks natural when it comes off but terrible if it doesn’t.

SCOREBOARD

NORTH MELBOURNE 1.0 2.2 3.4 5.5 (35)

FREMANTLE 3.3 7.4 11.6 15.9 (99)

GOALS

Roos: Larkey 2; Zurhaar, Garner, Hall.

Dockers: Hogan 4; Schultz, Taberner, Walters 3; Lobb, Darcy.

MATT TURNER’S BEST

Roos: McDonald, Anderson, Dumont.