Kangas make a play for flag
CAN North Melbourne win the premiership?
It is a question worth asking. At the halfway mark of the season, Brad Scott’s team is 7-4 with a healthy percentage.
With that record it would be disrespectful to discount the Kangas.
The Roos have five games against strugglers to come — Western Bulldogs twice, Gold Coast, St Kilda and Brisbane Lions again.
Players are told to look as far as the next week only, but surely Scott has wondered whether that is a platform for a top-four finish.
From there North would be impossible to ignore. Perhaps it has slipped under the radar because it is so far removed from Broadway.
The Roos don’t play a Friday night game this year, but in the early Sunday slot yesterday they displayed a killer edge, smashing the Lions by 54 points at Etihad Stadium.
It was a procession for a half and then, after a tight third quarter, Dayne Beams booted four goals in the final term to restore a touch of respect.
When Sam Wright kicked one of the goals of the year, lying on his backside about 8m out, the Roos led by 50 points before time-on in the second quarter.
At that stage the Kangas had generated 23 inside-50s for 19 scores. There was open space and often open teammates queuing up.
The Kangas recorded their most handballs in a first half for eight years. They flicked the footy around and made the Lions look slow.
Shaun Higgins racked up 22 handball receives and had maximum Brownlow votes in the bag by halftime. How was he afforded so much space? Higgins cashed in with 38 disposals, six clearances and seven inside-50s.
Captain Jack Ziebell was credited with two contested marks in the first quarter, when the game was briefly up for grabs. He then jagged two goals on the run in the last quarter to top a long list of goalkickers.
Jarrad Waite was a late withdrawal and Harris Andrews beat Ben Brown (two goals) — and yet the Roos kicked their second-biggest score in their past 86 games.
They had 14 goalkickers. Two of Alex Witherden’s kickouts sailed back over his head for goals and the score worm travelled north at a rapid rate for the first half.
The Kangaroos have a strong defence, play well in high-pressure games and Champion Data says they are the hardest team to move the ball against.
They have recorded a percentage of more than 125 in just four seasons — 1974, 1983, 1994 and 1996.
In those years they reached a Grand Final, preliminary final, preliminary final and won the premiership.
It is currently 125.1. Could it be North Melbourne’s year?
There’s no harm in asking.