Roos revive their season in Hobart
Resurgent North Melbourne snatches much-needed victory over West Coast in Hobart.
PT1M34S 620 349NORTH MELBOURNE 4.4 5.4 9.6 13.7 (85) WEST COAST 1.4 5.11 7.12 10.15 (75)
Goals: North Melbourne: S Higgins 4, B Brown 3, B Harvey, D Petrie, J Ziebell, L Thomas, S Gibson, T Goldstein. West Coast: J Kennedy 3, F McInnes 2, A Gaff, J Cripps, L Duggan, S Hurn, S Wellingham.
BEST: North Melbourne: Higgins, Ziebell, Harvey, Goldstein, Petrie, Brown, Bastinac, Wright. West Coast: Priddis, Gaff, Wellingham, Yeo, Shuey, Hurn, Kennedy, Masten.
Umpires: Scott Jeffery, Ray Chamberlain, Jordan Bannister.
Official Crowd: 12,011 at Blundstone Arena.
Hobart Disgusting one week, a semblance of pride restored the next. North Melbourne fought into a wind all week and all day.
Jack Ziebell of the Kangaroos kicks while being tackled by Scott Selwood of the Eagles. Photo: Getty Images
From a woeful game last week they then lost their coach to the couch for a bad back and then played the Eagles in a howling gale in Hobart and overcame it all. It was a strange day. Twice the ball stopped and dropped mid-air. Kicks that should go 40 metres gave up fighting the wind after 25 metres and dropped. Another ball booted high almost doubled back on itself and went backwards. Two goals were kicked that went more than 75 metres.
Some games you play two opponents, other days it is three. This was a day when beating the conditions was as difficult as beating the opponent. North proved superior in finding a way to beat the conditions and the Eagles. A strong blustery wind gave at least four goals help to one end. North had the first use of it and took their time to take advantage.
North steadied after an unsteady start when it seemed even the players were wondering what sort of game they were going to bring this week after their weak surrender last week.
Ben Brown, applying local knowledge booted two in a minute for North to open up the sort of lead the wind demanded they get. North appeared to relax into their game after that, comfortable they had not wasted the advantage.
West Coast took time to wind back the lead when they had use of the wind. Fraser McInnes kicked two in a minute but the Eagles otherwise peppered the goal without success finishing the quarter having booted a wasteful 4.7. They should have been several goals ahead at the main break.
Jack Ziebell, Shaun Higgins and Sam Gibson were working the ball well for North but the spread of Eagles midfielders had the advantage.
Ten goals were kicked for the first half and eight of them were with the wind. In the second half the Eagles retooled how they would attack into the wind. Primarily that seemed to be to get Matt Priddis and Andrew Gaff to manage the ball use and run it with linking handball. When Liam Duggan and Josh Kennedy managed to goal into the wind to give the Eagles an 11-point lead it appeared the match-winning lead had opened up.
Brad Scott was watching the game from home recovering from back surgery but was told he could have one dedicated phone line to the coach's box. It might have been about this time Scott was reaching for the phone and reminding Darren Crocker of his disgust of last week and promise of a response.
As if on cue North's leaders intervened to keep the game alive. Brown curled in a goal after scrapping in a pocket, then Shaun Higgins, who was terrific all day, poked through a goal after Andrew Swallow fell over under pressure in the goal square but still squirted out a handball. Then Brent Harvey sniffed a chance when he received a handball from outside 50 and floated a long ball on the wind.
North had won the quarter by four goals to two and led at the last change by a goal but needing to defend into the breeze for the last term the task was ahead of them. Waite was off the ground with a groin complaint with Robin Nahas already subbed out. Against all of that they played the superior football for the last term and outscored the Eagles four goals to three.
