DOCKERS HOLD OUT KANGAS

TODD Goldstein must have been waiting all year to stick it up those damned critics.

All season the fans and media have been pushing for the Roos to select Braydon Preuss, the new and flashy model on the Kangaroos’ shelf.

All year Brad Scott has been wanting to clinch a close one to prove his side doesn’t choke when the going gets tough.

Four losses by a combined total of 10 points meant he just had to shut his mouth and wait for his boys to finally get it done.

So there Goldstein was, ball in hand after a ruck free kick, 20m out on a minor angle and with the game on his boot as the final seconds ticked down.

And then he went and did it – Goldstein’s hooked shot at goal consigned the Roos to their fifth nailbiting loss this year, a four-point Etihad Stadium defeat against Fremantle.

Fremantle first-gamer Ryan Nyhuis had seemed the unlikeliest four-goal hero after his major with 149 seconds to play put the Dockers a goal to the good. Nyhuis was a late inclusion for David Mundy and had never played in attack for the Dockers, yet kicked his goals on All Australian candidate Robbie Tarrant.

Then Jack Ziebell’s 55m bomb was rushed and Sean Ryan’s clumsy ruck contest handed Goldstein his moment on a silver platter. And yet like so often before in this moment of frustration, he lost his composure and the Roos again walked away empty-handed.

The Roos had come back from 25 points down near halftime through the brilliance of Ben Brown (four goals) and the smooth-moving Shaun Hig- gins. But as Goldstein said after the match, those close ones just keep slipping away.

“It is one of those things you train for and it didn’t go my way, but at least I had the chance to have a shot. I would have liked to have finished it off,” he said.

As is par for the course at North Melbourne, the highs were mind-blowing and the lows just made you scratch your head.

Ross Lyon’s Dockers snapped their own five-match losing streak and showed they will be more than nuisance value in the last seven rounds.

Nyhuis was the seventh debutant this year, described by Lyon post-match as “dog hungry” after coming off the rookie list.

The kids showed plenty, with Nathan Fyfe back to his powerful best and Connor Blakely also exceptional.