Melbourne v North Melbourne at Casey Fields (11.00am AEDT).
MELBOURNE
1. Steven May, 3. Christian Salem, 4. James Harmes, 5. Christian Petracca, 6. Luke Jackson, 9. Charlie Spargo, 10. Angus Brayshaw, 11. Max Gawn, 12.# Toby Bedford, 13. Clayton Oliver, 14. Michael Hibberd, 15. Ed Langdon, 17. Jake Bowey, 20. Adam Tomlinson, 23. James Jordon, 24. Trent Rivers, 25. Tom McDonald, 26. Sam Weideman, 29. Jayden Hunt, 30. Alex Neal-Bullen, 32. Tom Sparrow, 33. Oskar Baker, 36. Kysaiah Pickett, 37. #Kade Chandler, 38. Mitch Brown, 42. #Daniel Turner, 44. #Joel Smith, 50. Ben Brown
Notable absentees: Jack Viney, Jake Lever, Jake Melksham, Luke Dunstan, Bayley Fritsch, Harrison Petty
NORTH MELBOURNE
1. Jack Mahony, 2. Jaidyn Stephenson, 4. Aiden Corr, 5. Curtis Taylor, 6. #Jason Horne-Francis, 7. Jack Ziebell, 8. Bailey Scott, 13. Jared Polec, 15. Atu Bosenavulagi, 17. Lachie Young, 18. Hugh Greenwood, 19. Josh Walker, 20. Nick Larkey, 21. Callum Coleman-Jones, 22. Todd Goldstein, 23. Ben McKay, 24. Tom Powell, 25. #Paul Curtis, 26. Tarryn Thomas, 27. #Miller Bergman, 28. Kayne Turner, 29. Will Phillips, 31. #Josh Goater, 32. #Jacob Edwards, 33. #Patrick Walker, 34. #Jackson Archer, 35. Charlie Lazzaro, 37. #Kyron Hayden, 40. Eddie Ford, 44. Cam Zurhaar
Notable absentees: Jed Anderson, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Ben Cunnington, Luke McDonald, Jy Simpkin, Aiden Bonar, #Charlie Comben, #Tristan Xerri, Aaron Hall
Leave a comment / Scroll to bottom
Rookies:
North Melbourne
6 Jason Horne-Francis $207.3k MID
25 Paul Curtis $117.3k FWD
27 Miller Bergman $117.3k DEF/MID
31 Josh Goater $117.3k MID
32 Jacob Edwards $123.9k FWD/RUC
33 P Walker $123.9k DEF/MID
34 J Archer $117.3k DEF
37 K Hayden $199.6k DEF
Melbourne
12 Toby Bedford $123.9k FWD
38 Kade Chandler $123.9k FWD
42 Daniel Turner $123.9k DEF
44 Joel Smith $177.2k DEF
I happen to be watching the game so I’ll try and give some perspectives in the match.
* Zurhaar has shaved his head, no more dirty mullet.
* Is Kayo’s camera crew a Year 9 Media class from a local high school? Wow. So bad.
* I’m clearly a Roos fan, but Oliver and Petracca charging out of packs is a thing of beauty.
* You know it’s a trial game when the Kayo clock keeps changing times and the commentators don’t actually know the quarter length.
1/4 time score (if it matters to anyone)
Melb – 4.1.25 lead NM – 2.3.15
Lot of intensity in this one for a practice game.
Satan off after clutching his left hand, probably a dislocated finger and no worries. Was everywhere until then.
JHF energetic. Started FWD pocket then a few CBAs. Just two or so touches. Dees CB brigade dominant.
Maxxy a heap of marks, covering the ground really well even with a Jackson split.
Goals:
Melb: McDonald, Spargo, Brown, Chamdler
NM: Mahoney, Larkey
Chamdler just kicked a goal from his defensive half!! That’s bonkers!!!
Just saw a moment that sums up downhill skier Polec. North pushing fwd with Polec part of the foray fwd. 50/50 contests, Polec puts a tackle on, ball bounces out and Melbourne start running out of their D50 and Polec doesn’t chase the ball out. No chase whatsoever. Melbourne take the ball fwd and score a goal.
A reminder that we’re witnessing Premiers vs Wooden Spooners and it shows.
Difference is talent but also structure. Melbourne are so well drilled.
Half time score.
Melb 9.3.57 lead NM 2.5.17
Goals:
Melb: 2 McDonald, 2 Chandler, 2 Brown, Spargo, Neal-Bullen, Harmes
NM: Mahoney, Larkey
SC watch: This is with no stats and all vibes but Trac and Oliver are dominating. You could do worse than having both of these guys in your final line up. For NM, JHF has been quiet as too Phillips. Hayden has looked alright and Thomas has shown a bit through the middle. Stephenson looking good too as a high half fwd. Polec is Polec but if he gets a gig round 1 he just has to be looked at. Simpkin not playing. Ziebell taking kick outs with Hall absent.
Thanks Roo Bloke for the updates. Appreciate it
How’s the rookie Patrick Walker going RB?
He’s been involved a fair bit actually. Don’t think he’s best 22 but there’s a lot of options for spots 16 – 22.
Thanks mate, wasn’t sure that he really would be but he was decent in the VFL last year so you never know
3/4 time.
Decent game of footy but Dees well in control.
Melb 12.7.79 lead NM 4.7.31
Melb: 3 Brown, 2 McDonald, 2 Chandler, 2 Harmes, Spargo, Neal-Bullen, Brayshaw
NM: 2 Mahoney, Larkey, Powell
JHF stepped up that quarter and had a bit more of it. Goater is part of the game now but quiet so far. Ziebell has to be in your considerations. I’ve upgraded him from “Feeling Lucky” to whatever is between that and “Lock and Load”. Bowey is getting a lot of mentions in the broadcast and I know he’s been mentioned by some as a notable mid pricer option. Gawn has been good too.
CCJ with ice on the knee. Dr Dal Danto is saying it’s a medial issue.
Edwards starting ruck for start of Q4 for North.
Feels like the biggest issue starting Ziebell is Hall takes his point and he will only be out a month. just better to stay away from both or bring in hall at the start of upgrade season
Final score
Melb 20.12.132 def NM 6.8.44
Melb: 5 Brown, 3 McDonald, 3 Harmes, 2 Chandler, 2 Gawn, Spargo, Neal-Bullen, Brayshaw, Petracca, Oliver
NM: 2 Mahoney, Larkey, Powell, Zurhaar, Young
Best
Melb: Oliver, Petracca, Langdon, Bowey, Brayshaw, Brown, Gawn …. I could go on.
NM: Ziebell, Thomas, Stephenson
My SC takeaways
* Oliver and/or Petracca are locks
* Thomas did nothing to suggest he won’t be good as your F2 or F3
* Gawn is good enough to still be SC relevant even when sharing ruck duties with Jackson
* JHF will do enough and score enough to earn cash at the M7 or M8
* Hayden is definitely one to consider down back
* Ziebell was everywhere across half back. He looks like he’ll keep last year’s role and still scotlre well.
* Bowey might be a better 260K option than Phillips.
Great wrap, RB. Appreciate the updates.
But no Hall (as well as McDonald who was at HB in the last match sim) absolutely flattered Ziebell.
Hey RB. I’m a long term fan of yours but I can never quite understand why you are so biased towards North. I understand given your age that you may be stuck in the old glory times (70s etc) but we are a different sort of team now. Absolutely no relevance this year and I’m already worried we’ve wasted our first pick on another hiphen. I suppose you agree with my analysis deep down but are just a little afraid to voice it. Conversely, senility may be fast approaching. Nonetheless, I doubt we will see any relevance out of our beloved Kangaroos this year. Maybe the future will be brighter? Good luck with your SC team!
Bahaha ….. I’ll bite.
Aren’t we all biased towards our teams?? Have you seen Mottsy’s starting line ups some years?? Isn’t that the essence of being a supporter??
Btw, you’ve got me pegged for a whole chunk older than I am. I wasn’t alive in the 70s golden era, let alone old enough to enjoy it.
As for this year, I don’t know what ‘relevant’ means to you, but I think North has high SC relevance this year (as always happens with low placed teams). In real footy terms, I think we’ll improve and if we move out of the bottom 4 teams I’ll be happy with that. That’ll be progress.
I’m with you Roo Bloke.
Not a great showing by North but I expected Melbourne to win comprehensively as we (North) played far more rookies and were missing 4 of our top 5 from 2021 B & F.
I was there live yesterday (for 3 quarters) and I will make the comment – You could tell it was a practice match.
I expect North to win 6-8 matches during the season but if we could push outside the bottom 6 – that would be a win.
JHF will be an absolute star. He is Dangerfield 2.0.
CCJ struggled – but then many do against Gawn. I think he is Fwd-Ruc and not the other way round. Keeping Xerri looks to be a very wise move. (It will be very interesting to see what the club does with Goldy at the end of the season as looks like he could play another 10 years).
I am still optimistic for the season and that if we can consistently get near our best team on the park then we will meet and probably beat expectations.
Ooops… used wrong email address without my avatar.
Careful TrooRoo, I think there’s some goats crossing a bridge you should be tending to.
Great work RB with your game updates.
TrooRoo haven’t you been told if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all.
IMHO TrooRoo you are the biggest Fl*g that gets on the site and unfortunately your SC ability does not match your enormous ego.
You talk a big game but when I offered you a bet last year with the loser of lowest overall donating to the site you showed your true colours and chickened out , but you did save your money just not your lack of courage backing up of your inflated ego.
“TrooRoo haven’t you been told if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all.”
Agreed with your original statement but don’t seem to be taking your own advice there TDA.
First of all, as a Demons supporter that was glorious to watch. Lots of running out the front of stoppages and kicking goals on the run. Some thoughts:
* Well shit, now I have to fit Oliver and Petracca into my line-up. Oliver in particular just looks too damn good.
* Gawn as well! Even not in the middle, he was marking, kicking goals and involved all over.
* Salem must’ve had 35+ disposals. Smokey.
* Poor showing from the Roos. Tarryn seems glued into the middle and I was impressed. Less so JHF who has good fwd pressure but less mid possessions than we’d hoped.
Is JHF not the golden boy after all ???
JHF had 20 disposals. And quarters were shortened. 10 cbas. Doesn’t mean much without most of north Melbourne’s midfield out.
But, he is a must pick, considering rookies falling everywhere. Tsitas and erasmus not named in practice match. Coleman in def/fwd not named.
Coleman is a covid close contact. He’s expected to play when not isolating
where do you find these stats and supercoach stats
Supercoach scores Top 5
Max Gawn 138
Clayton Oliver 123
Jack Ziebell 114
Christian Salem 111
James Harmes 108
where do you get them CT and jacksons?
L.Jackson 46
Tom Powell had a decent number of CBA, do we think he will improve his average to around the 85-90 this year?