Sheezel’s sweet smell of success at Roos
‘Defining moment’ for Pies
North Melbourne’s Rising Star winner Harry Sheezel hopes his massive commitment to the Kangaroos can “breed success” and take the club to a flag within seven years.
Already contracted until 2026, Sheezel extended his contract for four more years until the end of 2030 in a huge show of faith to the club after it finished 17th in his brilliant debut season.
Sheezel, 19, not only won the Rising Star award in 2023 but took out the Roos’ best and fairest as he seamlessly adjusted to senior football in a creative role off halfback.
The former No.3 pick said him and teammates were “desperate” to return the club to premiership contention as he was optimistic the side was improving at a “quick rate” on the eve of its second season under Alastair Clarkson.
“Ever since I walked in the door I’ve just loved the place, loved the players, loved the coaching staff and just the whole environment, the club has made me feel so welcome,” Sheezel said on Thursday.
“The group as well, we’re really developing at a quick rate I think … we’ve got a couple more draftees in this year who are going to help us grow.
“We don’t have too much evidence at the moment, but I’m sure we’re going to build that pretty soon and I’m excited to see where that takes us.”
Sheezel said he hoped fellow recent top-10 picks George Wardlaw, Colby McKercher and Zane Duursma would follow his lead and remain at the club
Collingwood coach Craig McRae says an embarrassing mid-season defeat in 2022 was the turning point that sparked a change in his attitude and helped drive the Magpies to a flag.
The premiership mentor said he “couldn’t get out of bed” the morning after a heavy 48-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in round 9, 2022, but it sparked a “moment of clarity” that altered the Pies’ trajectory.
Collingwood won 11 games in a row after that loss – nine of them by a single-digit margin – and claimed victory for the long-term. “It’s so exciting hearing all those names … hopefully they all stay around as well and we can really build something special together,” he said.
“If we all stay together and build some experience, that’s how we’re going to get better, climb the ladder and hopefully breed some success.
“First thing that comes to mind is hopefully premiership player … that’s the main goal for me and I’m sure that’s the goal for most of the boys here.
“That’s something we’re really desperate for.
“Obviously the club hasn’t been going too well the last few years and we’re just so keen to turn that around, so that’s definitely the number one goal.”
North Melbourne list boss Brady Rawlings said the club was excited to secure Sheezel’s future after locking in star forward Nick Larkey and cocaptain Jy Simpkin on long-term contracts.
“We’re absolutely rapt to have a player and person of Harry’s calibre sign on until at least the end of 2030,” he said.
“We’ve loved what we’ve seen from him so far, and at 19, he’s only scratched the surface of what he’s capable of.
“His decision to join the likes of Jy Simpkin and Nick Larkey in committing to the club long term is a great show of confidence in the future of the club, and we can’t wait to see what the next seven years hold with him here.” in 34 of its 42 matches since in a stunning turnaround after sitting 11th on the ladder.
McRae told the Howie Games podcast that the Bulldogs loss was a “defining moment” for a young side early in his tenure as coach.
“We weren’t going so well, had a few guys out, Pendles (Scott Pendlebury) was a late withdrawal, and if you look at the team, we were really inexperienced, and we were in a formation of trying to change our game plan,” he said.
“This was the defining moment for this group. We played the Friday night, and Saturday morning I couldn’t get out of bed. I was tossing and turning. My wife comes and gets me and said, ‘you’ve got to get out of bed’ … and I said, ‘I can’t’ … and she said, ‘you’ve got the solutions, Craig. You know what to do … be positive, Craig, it’s the only way through’.”