Media articles & stats: Tigers fall to North on Friday night

[one-eyed]

Tigers fall to North on Friday night

Michael Ramsey,
AAP
May 31, 2019 10:24PM

NORTH Melbourne has made a dream start to life under Rhyce Shaw, beating Richmond by 37 points in a major upset at Marvel Stadium.

The Shinboner spirit was on full display on Friday night as the Kangaroos out-hunted the AFL's pressure kings and ran out 15.9 (99) to 9.8 (62) winners in Shaw's first game as caretaker coach after taking over from Brad Scott.

North won the tackle count (68-55) and contested possessions (153-130) and never looked like being overtaken after booting six goals to one in a brilliant third quarter.

The Roos' dominant second half came despite being a man down after 150-game milestone man Jamie Macmillan succumbed to a calf injury.

Ben Brown booted five goals, Mason Wood slotted four and senior leaders Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington and Shaun Higgins were superb in the midfield.

But it was all about the next generation on a night where the Arden St faithful were in full voice throughout.

Cameron Zurhaar laid 10 tackles, including crunching rundown efforts on Dylan Grimes and Nathan Broad, Jy Simpkin had 14 contested possessions, Luke Davies-Uniacke showed his creativity and Nick Larkey presented well up forward.

North players were left stunned and emotional when they learned of Scott's immediate departure plans just hours before last week's game.

While the Roos defeated the Western Bulldogs in Scott's last hurrah, the question was whether an emotional comedown would follow.

But Zurhaar's five first-quarter tackles set the tone for a fierce performance that will live long in the memory at Arden St.

Little went right for Richmond despite another superb performance from Dustin Martin, who slotted three goals and had 21 touches.

Bolstered by the return of skipper Trent Cotchin from a long-term hamstring injury, the Tigers started promisingly but were uncharacteristically sloppy with ball in hand and were beaten convincingly around the ball.

Rookie defender Ryan Garthwaite had the massive task of lining up on Brown and was monstered by the Kangaroos spearhead.

At the other end of the ground, Tigers' recruit Tom Lynch was dominated by Robbie Tarrant in another big scalp for the Kangaroos' backline leader.

MEDICAL ROOM

North Melbourne: Jamie Macmillan injured his left calf in the second quarter of his 150th game and didn't come back to the contest after half-time. Kayne Turner left the field in the last term nursing his shoulder and also had his ribs looked at by medical staff.

Richmond: Concerns were raised in the first term when Bachar Houli was collected hard and left the field with what seemed like a possible shoulder injury as well as being checked closely for concussion symptoms. The defender was taken to the rooms but came back quickly and played out the match, albeit with a decent black eye.

NEXT UP
The Roos will hope to make it two from two for Rhyce Shaw when they travel to Metricon Stadium for a Saturday twilight clash with Gold Coast, while the Tigers will have a tough challenge to get back on the winning track as they face Geelong at the MCG on Friday night.

NORTH MELBOURNE    4.1   6.7  12.7  15.9 (99)
RICHMOND                  3.1   6.3   7.4    9.8 (62)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Brown 5, Wood 4, Anderson 2, Larkey, Simpkin, Polec, Thomas
Richmond: Martin 3, Butler 2, Lynch, Castagna, Prestia, Astbury

BEST
North Melbourne: Cunnington, Ziebell, Wood, Zurhaar, Brown, Tarrant, Higgins
Richmond: Houli, Martin, Prestia, Stack, Castagna, Cotchin

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Macmillan (calf), Turner (ribs/shoulder)
Richmond: TBC

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Margetts, Chamberlain, Hay

Official crowd: 29,326 at Marvel Stadium

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-05-31/match-report-kangaroos-v-tigers-r11-2019

[Lozza]

Hardly any coverage following our win last week, watch the headlines continue this week following our loss, seems we are only newsworthy when we lose. All the footy experts pick apart our gameplan and point out to the rest of the competition how to beat us.

[one-eyed]

Roos finally show just how much talent they have

Jon Ralph,
Herald Sun
1 June 2019

The anonymous faces on North Melbourne’s board won’t figure in too many best-on-ground discussions at Monday morning’s water cooler discussion.

Yet their determination eight days ago to pull the trigger on a season going nowhere is quickly becoming one of this year’s masterstrokes.

Out: Brad Scott, free to spruik his credentials in search of another coaching job.

In: The snarling, in-your-face attitude typical of Scott in his playing days but so sadly lacking in his final year in charge.

Rhyce Shaw’s new Roos didn’t just rip open the cracks papering over Richmond’s back six issues missing five-time All Australian Alex Rance.

They shone new light on just how much talent there is on this list as Jy Simpkin, Mason Wood, Luke Davies-Uniacke and Tarryn Thomas had a ball rubbing Richmond’s nose in the dirt.

Clearly they missed Scott’s memo.

That presentation to the list management group identifying the lack of talent and need for a dramatic overhaul to put a premiership anywhere without shouting distance.

On Friday night, North Melbourne’s Generation Next joined interim coach Shaw in making their case to be a big part of this club’s future.

And maybe the present given the Roos will finish the round only two games out of the eight.

Cam Zuurhar’s drag-down tackle on Sydney Stack in the game’s opening moments (one of 10 for the game) was a bold signal the Roos wouldn’t be pushed around.

But the astounding tackling statistics — 39 in the first half alone after an average of 53 so far this year — were only part of the story.

Simpkin got his hands dirty with 14 of his 20 possessions contested while Davies-Uniacke pirouetted out of packs like a ballet dancer and should set his sights on never being dropped again.

Wood backed up last week’s three-goal haul with a bag of four, surely setting a baseline in effort that he cannot go back on.

Thomas took two huge contested marks, the second deep in the pocket coming with a set-shot goal that put the margin past 50 points.

Richmond was battered so badly around the contest that few defences would be able to hold up, Rance or not.

But the sign of Jasper Pittard marking a Tom Lynch 50m set shot on the line unattended summed up the feeling of the Tigers as a harried and disorganised mob.

In the radio boxes they were labelled a “shambles”.

By late next Friday night after they take on premiership contender Geelong we will find out if this was an aberration of whether they have knocked over a series of mediocre rivals.


IRATE ROOS

Lynch was well blanketed by Robbie Tarrant and enraged the Kangaroos players when he went down a little too easily in a push-and-shove with Luke McDonald.

The Roos players made a beeline to him to remind him to be more robust in the contest.

Tarrant smashed Aaron Naughton last week and was exceptional again on Lynch, who contributed only one goal from five touches.

AFL ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL

Why was Marvel Stadium open to the elements at all on Friday given the ball slipped around early like a bar of soap?

Thankfully the players came to grips with the conditions but it was downright bizarre that we wouldn’t have pristine conditions under the roof after a filthy Melbourne day.

The roof was closed by the first bounce, but early on the Sherrin was skidding off the turf like a frigid day at Windy Hill.

CAN’T KEEP RAZOR OUT OF THE GAME

This time it wasn’t the fault of the attention-seeking Razor Ray Chamberlain.

Dylan Grimes’ soccered kick from mid-air went at right angles and hit Chamberlain flush in the lower body.

He command-rolled, bounced up and promptly pronounced himself leg before wicket with a finger in the air.

JON RALPH’S BEST

North Melbourne: Cunnington, Brown, Zuurhar, Ziebell, Higgins, Tarrant, .

Richmond: Houli, Martin, Prestia, Cotchin, Stack

VOTES

3. Ben Cunnington

2. Ben Brown

1. Cam Zurhaar

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/north-melbournes-youngsters-star-in-win-over-richmond-in-perfect-start-for-interim-coach-rhyce-shaw/news-story/831c72f8616127ab694a098d94a9fab6

[one-eyed]

Fired-up Roos upset the script

Ronny Lerner
The Age
1 June 2019

The Rhyce Shaw era has begun in spectacular fashion at North Melbourne with the revitalised Kangaroos delivering their caretaker coach a stunning 37-point win over premiership contenders Richmond in his first game in charge.

Eight of the previous nine caretaker coaches lost their first game in charge, but the desperate Kangaroos bucked that trend as their manic tackling pressure and hunger for the contest saw them surge to a 15.9 (99) to 9.8 (62) victory at Marvel Stadium on Friday night in one of the biggest upsets of 2019.

North looked like a different team from the one that could only manage three wins from the first 10 rounds and you’d be forgiven for thinking they hadn’t just experienced a turbulent week which was sparked by previous coach Brad Scott’s abrupt departure.

The result could see the Kangaroos finish round 11 just one game outside the top eight – yes, seriously – while the Tigers could fall from third to sixth by the end of the weekend.

North dominated the tackle and contested possession count all night and smacked the uncharacteristically timid Richmond around the stoppages in a performance which was even more impressive given defender Jamie Macmillan took no further part in the game after injuring his left calf in the second quarter.

The first half was an arm wrestle but after Richmond retook the lead late in the second quarter thanks to a Dustin Martin-inspired blitzkrieg, the Kangaroos busted the game wide open as they kicked 10 of the next 11 goals, including eight in a row, to open up a 51-point lead in the final term.

North Melbourne pair Ben Brown and Mason Wood combined for nine goals in attack and provided dangerous avenues to goal all night for the Kangaroos.

Wood arguably played the best game of his career, given the calibre of the opposition, while Brown was too much too handle for Ryan Garthwaite and made the Coleman Medal race more interesting with his equal biggest bag of the season

FEROCIOUS ZURHAAR
Nobody epitomised North Melbourne’s manic pressure more than Cameron Zurhaar who laid a game-high 10 tackles and set the tone for his side. He was in the thick of everything all evening, earning himself free kicks, routinely stopping Tigers in their tracks and most importantly creating scoring opportunities – the most telling of which led to the third of Brown’s five goals late in the third quarter that put North up by 33 points.

RAZOR WATCH
Midway through the first quarter, the ball ricocheted with pace from a Ben Brown-Ryan Garthwaite contest straight into Ray Chamberlain’s nether region. The impact sent the diminutive umpire to the ground much to the delight of the crowd. But he bounced right back to his feet with a smile on his face to assure everyone he was fine.

COTCHIN RETURNS
Richmond captain Trent Cotchin made a solid return to senior footy in what was his first game back from a hamstring injury since round three. He was far from his side’s worst player with 23 disposals and five clearances, but despite his best efforts, he just couldn’t get his side going as the blue-and-white tsunami of pressure washed them away.

NORTH MELBOURNE  4.1 6.7 12.7 15.9 (99)
RICHMOND               3.2 6.3  7.4   9.8 (62)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Brown 5, Wood 4, Anderson 2, Polec, Simpkin, Larkey, Thomas.
Richmond: Martin 3, Butler 2, Astbury, Prestia, Castagna, Lynch.

BEST
North Melbourne: Brown, Cunnington, Wood, Zurhaar, Higgins, Anderson, Tarrant.
Richmond: Martin, Houli, Prestia, Cotchin.

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Macmillan (calf)
Richmond: -

CROWD
29,326 at Marvel Stadium.

VOTES
8. Ben Brown (NM); 8. Ben Cunnington (NM); 7. Mason Wood (NM); 7. Cam Zurhaar (NM); 7. Shaun Higgins (NM)

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/fired-up-roos-upset-the-script-20190531-p51te7.html