North Melbourne vs Fremantle – Round 9 match recap

North Melbourne – 14.14 (98)

Fremantle – 12.13 (85)

Fremantle have yet again showed they have potential but as so often happens with them they failed to get over the line. The Dockers blasted out of the docks in the first quarter kicking 6 goals to North Melbourne’s 2 and looked set to upset the home side. The Roos, however, had other plans regrouping and kicking 6 goals to 3 in the second term to be just 5 points down at the main break. Trailing off in the second half Fremantle only managed to kick a further 3.6 in comparison to North’s 6.6. The young North Melbourne outfit got over the line by 13 points after being challenged late in the game.

Turning points of the match

For Fremantle: A stunning first quarter which should have given them momentum going forward, but instead seemed to make them think the job was done.

For North Melbourne: Firstly they kicked 5 of the first 6 goals in the second quarter to briefly give them the lead before Fremantle hit back. This quarter gave them the momentum the Fremantle should have capitalised on after the first quarter and they managed 7 of the last 10 goals of the game to win it. Secondly there was the second ever deliberate rushed behind rule was called against Steven Dodd with Aaron Edwards kicking the consequent score levelling goal in the third quarter.

Key Players for North Melbourne

David Hale – Kicked 5 goals for the Roos as the big unit up forward.

Brady Rawlings – Played a tagging role on Hasleby but frequently ran off his man to collect 24 valuable touches and laying 7 strong tackles.

Josh Gibson – Moved onto the dangerous Pavlich in the second quarter. He really stepped up late in the game to give the Roos some more run in the corridor collecting 20 possessions for the day.

Key Players for Fremantle

Paul Hasleby – Beat Rawlings on the day by collecting 26 touches, 5 tackles, taking 2 marks and kicking 2.1.

Matthew Pavlich – Beat Michael Firrito in the first quarter but then Gibson moved onto him in the second. He still managed 18 touches and kicked 3.2.

Luke McPharlin – Only took 6 marks but kicked 4.2 from his 13 touches including 2 important second quarter goals and 1 final quarter goal to give the Dockers a sniff at victory, unfortunately for them it wasn’t enough.

Musings from the match

· The crowd was a measly 15,436 in a disappointing display from the North Melbourne “faithful”.

· Fremantle had its best ever first term not only against the Roos but at the Docklands as well, kicking 6.5.

· North Melbourne dominated the marks with 106-75.

· That same team also had 19 frees to 9.

· The contested possession count went to the Roos as well with 121-113, as did the uncontested possession count with 238-217.

· Both teams disposal efficiency was only separated by 0.23%, with the Roos on top.

· The Dockers had 42 clangers to Norths 27.

· The Dockers had 11 more inside 50’s, but on the flipside the Roos had 11 more rebound 50’s.

· The Dockers dominated the hit outs with 52 to 15, Hamish McIntosh had 11 for the Roos while big man Aaron Sandilands had a lazy 43.

Supercoach news

Nathan Grima – Played his second game for a return of 92 after his debut of just 38. His second game performance means he will be increasing in value in the weeks to come. At $94,200 he could be a good trade down and money maker for you.

Sam Wright – Also played his second game and followed up his first game of 41with an impressive 81, nearly doubling it. Also at $94,200 he is a nice cheap forward who could be in a similar position as Grima but for your forward line should you need it.

Chris Tarrant – Never thought I would see the day where he could be of value but nevertheless he seems to have reinvented himself as a defender. Averaging just 64 points so far he has dropped by $89,200 but after a couple of solid performances he could be an interesting one to watch. He scored 71 on Carlton big man Brendan Fevola, 82 on Hawthorn 2008 Coleman Medallist Lance Franklin, and 85 on North Melbourne big man Drew Petrie this week.

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