The inside 50 count has not improved for Melbourne in the games since round 11.
North Melbourne had just 12 disposals inside 50 against the Cats, the fewest of any team since 2010.
That hardly seems possible, but consider they only had 25 inside 50s for the game and only had seven shots at goal. By comparison Geelong had 75 inside 50s and 39 shots at goal.
What has also been particularly unpleasant at any time this century is being a lowly team and facing Geelong in Geelong. North Melbourne confronted that scenario on the weekend.
“Nights like tonight are not very pleasant at all…we have to remain really calm and really clear on what we’ve got to go to work on,” Noble said after the game.
Geoff Walsh is reviewing the North Melbourne Football department, a review that is expected to take a month.
Docker Sean Darcy competes at a boundary throw-in with Kangaroos big man Callum Coleman-Jones.Credit:AFL Photos
So, while changes are expected and will happen at the club, it is more likely they’ll happen after the review, not before. Change is not only inevitable, it is essential. Clubs cannot keep performing as North have been in a performance-based industry and expect to roll on with what they’ve got. Just what changes are made, and when, is the question.
North has latterly thrown a few things around to find an answer, most notably shifting Ben McKay from defence to attack. Given how well his brother is going at Carlton, it is a worthwhile experiment – even if Ben is still kicking like a backman.
What remains one of the, admittedly many, mysteries at North is what has happened to Callum Coleman-Jones. He was recruited by North as a forward and ruck from Richmond, choosing the Kangaroos ahead of the Gold Coast and accepting a four-year deal.
He has played just four games this year for two goals. His senior form was poor and his VFL form has reportedly not merited senior selection, but it begs a question of what has happened to a player brought in only months ago on a four-year deal, who has so far not turned out to be the player North thought he was going to be.
This is not to finger point at any one in particular of the coach, the list manager, or the player but it could, and should, be a reasonable question Geoff Walsh’s review will ask. And it is only one of the many questions he will to try to find an answer to.
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