It’s truthful to say Spherical 20 of season 2025 hasn’t been one for the annals.
Seven video games in, Carlton’s Thursday night time loss to Hawthorn, through which the match was over earlier than quarter time, is the closest margin: three video games have been determined by 90 factors or extra, whereas an extra two have been by ten objectives or close to sufficient to it.
We’ve had rivalry fizzers, but extra prime time slop, and except you’re a fan of one of many victors and loved working up the rating on an outclassed rival, it’s one more instance of what has grow to be a concerningly flat lead-in to September.
So naturally, with seven groups reeling from humiliation, the staff that embarrassed themselves essentially the most, essentially the most undignified efficiency on a weekend stuffed with distress, was as soon as once more North Melbourne.
The Kangaroos’ 101-point loss to Geelong, ‘simply’ their second triple-figure defeat since Alastair Clarkson took the reins on the finish of 2022, is as insipid a show as a facet with any semblance of its finest staff on the park might presumably put out.
Positive, there was no Tristan Xerri, whereas Nick Larkey too was sidelined: however to be 106 factors behind at three quarter time to a Cats staff that each entered self-preservation mode midway by way of the time period and determined occasion methods have been preferable to actually sinking the boots in is as pathetic because it will get.
Final yr’s Spherical 24 loss to Hawthorn was a much bigger defeat on paper, however that is the official nadir of Clarkson’s reign on the Kangaroos, which started with hope he was the saviour in August 2022 however which, nearing three years since he took the reins, has yielded 10 wins and a attract 55 video games.
Alastair Clarkson speaks to the North Melbourne gamers. (Photograph by Robert Cianflone/Getty Photos)
For all of the membership and the coach can preach for but extra persistence from a supporter base whose resilience in watching their staff be flogged routinely and relentlessly for the higher a part of a decade, it rings hole given the Kangaroos determined to commerce this yr’s first-round choose to Richmond in change for the rights to a key place participant in Matt Whitlock who has performed one recreation for the season, even with Larkey now sidelined for half a month, even with a backline for which describing it as Swiss cheese could be an insult to the cheese.
Truthfully, the kindest factor I can provide any Kangaroos supporter not damaged by this newest humiliation is catharsis: a full post-mortem of an evening from hell, what it means for this membership’s future, how a lot of it’s Clarkson’s fault and the way a lot rests on the shoulders of the gamers, and what can change to make sure this stays the complete, official, remaining all-time low, and never simply the mirage of a bedrock below which there are new depths for this soccer membership to sink.
However first, some comparisons: Richmond, who scorched their earth ultimately yr’s commerce interval to an excellent higher extent than the Kangaroos did to start their rebuild all these years in the past, are by some means extra superior in three-quarter of a season below Adem Yze than North are in three below Clarkson.
They defend tenaciously, assault with vigour, and whereas their ability, power and expertise are all flaws good sides will and have exploited, there’s an identifiable technique to every thing they do, with and with out the soccer.
Going again a bit of additional, GWS have been additionally out there for a brand new coach when Clarkson donned blue and white for the primary time. Anticipated to face an extended, exhausting journey again into relevancy, they’ve as an alternative made a preliminary remaining, completed within the high 4, and look on the right track to provide the flag a correct shake in 2025 – all with a lesser haul of first-round draft picks, even now, than took to the sector for North Melbourne on Saturday night time.
Even additional into the previous, the one staff persistently worse than the Kangaroos throughout their first actual yr of distress again in 2020 was Adelaide. The Crows misplaced the primary 13 video games of Matthew Nicks’ tenure, and it has taken till now for them to complete a season with a optimistic win-loss document.
But there’s each likelihood a rebuild that started at the very same time as North’s, and featured a far much less stacked crop of high draft picks, goes to yield a grand remaining berth, or perhaps a premiership, within the time it has taken the Kangaroos to complete precisely the place they have been again when their journey up was meant to begin – seventeenth.
Naturally, North’s primary challenge stays defending – it’s an space that, since Clarkson took over, they’ve by some means managed to worsen at since even the despair of the David Noble days, once they have been nonetheless God terrible however at the least weren’t giving up scores of 150+ on fairly so common a foundation.
It’s each a difficulty of provide and of construction. The Kangaroos’ midfield, that includes supposed elite expertise of the likes of Luke Davies-Uniacke, Harry Sheezel and Tom Powell, top-10 draft picks all, places on embarrassingly little strain, and allowed Bailey Smith and Max Holmes to waltz out of the midfield with ease and drive the ball lengthy and deep inside 50. Mixed, that they had 17 such entries and 19 rating involvements.
Excessive, hacked balls below strain weren’t a factor in any respect at Marvel Stadium: the Cats, even with North gamers of their neighborhood, had no hesitation in reducing the eyes, working the ball to the sting of fifty, and seeking to pinpoint a goal. Principally Jeremy Cameron (extra on him in a second), but in addition Shannon Neale, Tyson Stengle, Brad Shut, Patrick Dangerfield, Mark Blicavs, and everybody in between.
Conceding 27 marks inside 50 is a tally solely West Coast have exceeded this season: for groups apart from the picket spooners presumptive, the worst in 2025 is 21. It’s additionally eight greater than even this horrendous Kangaroos defence had beforehand given up this yr.
But it surely’s troublesome to really feel sorry for too lots of the North defenders – apart from Toby Pink, who was given the job on Jeremy Cameron whereas he already had 5 objectives to his identify, received zero assist from additional afield, and was duly made to appear like the SANFL backman he was till two and a half years in the past.
Griffin Logue is a large number: it’s one factor to do as Pink did and be comprehensively crushed within the air and on the bottom by a superior opponent, however the former Docker’s effort on Cameron within the first half might barely be known as defending.
I don’t know whether or not it was a acutely aware tactic from Clarkson, or only a full lack of respect for the Coleman Medal chief from Logue, however in all of his three objectives inside the first ten minutes of the sport Cameron was given between 5 and 15 metres of area – between 5 and 15 occasions the metres of area he wanted.
See this objective from the pocket?
That got here after Cameron led out to that spot, stood there for a great 5 seconds, and obtained the move, all of the whereas Logue stood 20 metres away guarding what he assumed to be the extra harmful area. Because it turned out, to the shock of nobody apart from himself, essentially the most harmful area was wherever the hell Cameron ended up.
Even worse, for each Logue and Clarkson, was to come back shortly after.
Anybody who has watched a single Geelong match over the previous three years is aware of Cameron’s trick play: at ahead 50 stoppages, he’ll often come proper as much as the competition, try to tug a key defender with him, after which sprint out the again to make use of his tempo to devastating impact.
He fully fools Logue for his third objective – however the worst a part of it’s that the Kangaroos ‘defender’ not solely lets him get away with it, not solely units up for the stoppage with Cameron already objective facet of him – however at no level even has a token arm on the shoulder of essentially the most harmful footballer within the AFL, a person who had already kicked two objectives on him inside ten minutes.
You’ll discover on that scorecard that Cameron’s third objective gave the Cats the lead after the Roos, to that time, had acquitted themselves quite effectively, particularly from stoppages.
There are worse issues for North than simply Logue, although: the dearth of construction behind the ball makes the duty of any Kangaroos defender nearly unattainable. Both they sag again and depart an acre of area between 20 and 50 metres out from objective for any half-decent ahead to guide into, or they press up and let objectives leak out the again. Such is the dearth of strain placed on by these in midfield.
North critics will level to the Roos laying ten fewer tackles than Geelong on an evening the place they have been crushed by 101 – however there are extra methods to exert strain than that. There’s corralling the ball-carrier, refusing straightforward passage out the entrance of stoppages, or forcing backwards handpasses that inevitably result in excessive, hopeful balls ahead that may be neutralised extra simply.
There may be simply nothing even resembling that degree of dedication on the Kangaroos: simply take a look at this Gryan Miers objective from 50 after receiving a 50m penalty.
Sheezel, pressured to face the mark, at the least has an excuse for not reacting quick sufficient: no fewer than 4 totally different Kangaroos all jog by way of the world Miers is about to run into to shoot, and all to a person sag even additional again into no-man’s land, missing the widespread sense that perhaps leaving a 20-metre paddock of area for one of many AFL’s finest kicks inside 50 received’t finish effectively.
If even a kind of 4 fills that area, then Miers is pressured to kick lengthy, most likely to a contest, after which the opposite three may help create an outnumber and pressure a draw, a boundary throw-in, a rushed behind, or at worst, be legitimately outplayed by a contested mark. Three of these outcomes are positive, and you would reside with the fourth.
Even once they do pressure these excessive, lengthy balls – within the under case, not due to any actual strain however simply because Bailey Smith does excessive, lengthy balls for a residing – there isn’t any cohesion, no teamwork, no construction current in how the Roos defend them, particularly with Charlie Comben inexplicably beginning this match ahead solely to be despatched again when issues received dire.
A useful backline can simply defuse this ball: on the drop zone, it’s successfully a 3 on two, with two of them in Tyson Stengle and Zane Duursma staying down. It simply wants certainly one of Wil Dawson or Comben to interact with Rhys Stanley and let the opposite fly in for an intercept mark – precisely what the Cats did for a residing at any time when the ball went down their finish.
Right here, although, Comben misjudges his learn of the excessive ball, as does Dawson, who shunts Stanley below the drop zone however then can solely tip the footy on. Comben really finally ends up slipping over as Stengle, who Duursma has seemingly forgotten he’s alleged to be minding, gathers the crumb and snaps with ease.
That, briefly, is the way you concede 40 scoring pictures from 77 entries – what’s much more regarding, although, is to be held to simply three objectives at three-quarter time regardless of an identical quantity of disposals. Neglect the 4 objectives within the remaining quarter when the Cats had put the cue within the rack.
North, principally, have one avenue to objective: they’re the fourth-best staff within the league at scoring from stoppages. But even that could be a double-edged sword, as a result of no staff offers up extra factors from stoppages than the Kangaroos – however with out the kamikaze, score-or-be-scored on method, there’s simply no means they will put any form of complete on the board.
North are useless final at scoring from turnovers this season – worse than West Coast, worse than Richmond – and third-last for getting scored on by way of them, with solely the Eagles and Essendon’s VFL staff giving up greater than their 54.2 factors per recreation (earlier than Saturday night time’s horror present) from them.
They don’t lock the ball inside 50 – they’re tenth within the AFL for tackles within the arc, and fourth-worst at scoring from their ahead half. They’re within the backside six for scoring from defensive 50, worst by a long way at share of possession chains beginning in defensive 50 that find yourself inside 50, and worst at scoring from their defensive half.
Ability degree is an enormous explanation for this – the Roos nonetheless can not discover a respectable ball-user in defence since Harry Sheezel was moved additional afield, nor a working rebounder who can take the sport on. They’re attempting to make Colby McKercher that participant – he actually has the traits for it – however the reality is that whereas he’s fast and an aesthetically pleasing kick, his decision-making is abysmal even by North Melbourne requirements.
His many, many turnovers, a large amount of which finish in objectives crusing again over his head, come solely partly from lacking targets – a big chunk of them are from an absence of spatial consciousness or an understanding that opposition gamers would possibly need to lower off the kicks he’s making.
This kick to younger Zac Banch, for example, would hit him lace out at coaching – however he seemingly hasn’t observed Jack Bowes encroaching quick from behind. Positive sufficient, the mark is spoiled, and from there, the Cats have an outnumber, and it’s left to McKercher to forlornly chase Cameron as he runs into an open objective for his seventh.
McKercher nonetheless had 32 disposals and 505 metres gained on Saturday night time. There’s a participant there – however he’s additionally an enormous purpose why the Roos not solely can’t transfer the ball from one finish to the opposite with something like consistency, however leak so many objectives from turnovers as effectively.
The reality is that loads of this shut evaluation is as pointless as it’s ineffective. It’s manifestly apparent why North Melbourne stay horrible, 5 years since they began being horrible, three years because the rebuild was meant to start.
However anybody who thinks this downside is unfixable ought to take a look at Adelaide, whose main backline distributor is a reject from Brisbane again within the days earlier than they have been any good, whose key defenders are an Irishman with 50 video games below his belt, a wiry teen and a 60-gamer two weeks again from a long-term harm. But they haven’t any hassle getting the ball from finish to finish, defusing excessive balls, taking intercept marks and basically doing all of the issues an awesome defence ought to.
That North are nonetheless a rabble is an indictment on Clarkson greater than any of his particular person gamers. This membership has paid him a small fortune to show this ship round – but on a much bigger mandate and with way more promise than, say, Paul Roos when he took the job at Melbourne, he has added zero defensive metal, and in 55 video games it’s nonetheless unattainable to say what the Kangaroos’ recreation plan is past profitable the ball at stoppages and using that wave all the way in which residence.
Losses like this lengthy ceased to be acceptable. And except one thing radical adjustments within the remaining 4 weeks of one other depressing season, the query will now not be whether or not Clarkson can flip this ship round: it’s whether or not the board that patted themselves so heartily on the again once they appointed him could have the gumption to determine when sufficient is sufficient.
