We analyse North Melbourne’s 2014 AFL season.
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NORTH MELBOURNE
(Regular Season: 6th, 14 wins, 8 losses; Finals: Knocked out in preliminary final against Sydney)
What went right?
North Melbourne beat all of the top five home and away season teams in 2014, including massive scalps away to the Sydney Swans at the SCG in round four and Fremantle at Patersons Stadium in round six.
The Kangaroos midfield stepped up massively in 2014, and the addition of Nick Dal Santo was the catalyst in the likes of Ben Cunnington, Levi Greenwood and Sam Gibson to ramp up their own intensity.
Brad Scott’s side also had a much sturdier back six this season, conceding the fifth least points a game on average.
What went wrong?
North’s consistency was a major issue.
The Kangaroos robbed themselves of a top four spot after losses to the likes of Carlton, Brisbane and Gold Coast.
In some ways it was a strange season for the men from Arden Street as the frustration of dropping matches to bottom half sides began to take the shine off their big scalps against top four teams.
Star peformers:
The usual suspects in Brent Harvey and Drew Petrie were good for a majority of the season, but midfielder Ben Cunnington was excellent.
Cunnington was the Kangaroos’ best player in the finals, averaging 26.7 possessions.
The future:
Quite simply, the Kangaroos need to close the gap between their best and worst in 2015 if they are going to have any chance of making the top four in 2015.
An elite key forward would help them massively and there’s been talk that the ‘Roos will go after Carlton’s Jarrad Waite.
Waite has consistency issues of his own, so it would be interesting to see how it would play out.
Season score: 7.5/10
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