It was a long, tough night for the Kangaroos.
North Melbourne was utterly outclassed by the Demons on Saturday evening, suffering a 90-point loss at the MCG to give Kangaroos mentor Alastair Clarkson his heaviest defeat as a coach since Round 11, 2006.
The Demons kicked eight goals to one in the opening term and never looked back, going on to win 22.7 (139) to 7.7 (49) and climb into first place on the ladder.
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And while you can’t be too critical of a rebuilding side up against one of the premiership favourites, North Melbourne’s intent has come under the microscope.
Five-time premiership player Dermott Brereton questioned the motivation of the Roos, who have now lost five consecutive games, suggesting it falls back on Clarkson.
“You’re a new coach and great coach. How do you stomach what they dished up in the first quarter?” Brereton asked post-match on Fox Footy.
“Some of the efforts when they were 0-6 goals down right at the start of the game.
“That is on the player, his want and his desire to participate and commit to the task. And the coach has to shoulder some of the responsibility of saying, ‘I motivate them.’
“Team sport you’ve really got to reach your team and get them emotionally invested. You can say it’s up to them, but you’ve still got do that job, and they weren’t invested right from the get go.”
At half-time, Brereton pointed to a “lacklustre” tackle attempt from Jaidyn Stephenson on Kysaiah Pickett and another incident where the Dees star kicked a goal with limited pressure from Griffin Logue in front of him.
“He just allows Kossie to take a shot at goal,” Brereton said.
“It’s like he’s scared of being made to look stupid by charging at him, but he has to.”
Former Geelong star Cameron Mooney continued after the final siren: “I don’t know how many times you’ve walked off from a 100-point belting … it’s a hard walk off.
“You’re looking at each other like … ‘What did we just deliver?’
“As a coach it‘s up to them when you’ve got an experienced team, you don’t have to motivate them. A really good Hawthorn side back in the day, a Richmond side, Geelong, Brisbane – you don’t have to motivate those teams.
“But when you’ve got young players, you’ve got to motivate them. You’ve got to have them roaring to go in those first five minutes.”
Speaking to reporters in the post-match press conference, Clarkson noted the Demons were in a similar situation not long before Melbourne’s 2021 premiership.
Melbourne Demons Press Conference | 06:20
“I reckon they have, if not eight, maybe as many as 10 blokes who are All-Australian quality,” Clarkson said.
“What we saw is the gap between one of the better sides in the competition and one of the not-so good sides.
“They‘ve been in the same position as what we are right now … the dangling carrot for us is because we know what their path has been, there’s hope and prospect for us as a footy club as well.
“It‘s tough yards, but we’ll roll up the sleeves, get to work.
“They‘re a highly credentialed side and I’d be very surprised if they’re not top-four and challenging seriously for the flag.”
Meanwhile, North Melbourne’s Charlie Comben was sent to hospital after suffering what appeared to be a horror lower leg injury in the first quarter, while Callum Coleman-Jones (concussion) and Tom Powell (ankle) also suffered setbacks.
“It is a blow to us because (Comben’s) a young guy trying to make his way in the game,” Clarkson said.
“It was his seventh game on the trot and getting that continuity was going to be important for him.
“He’s shown in the games that he’s played … that he is a great prospect for us and we have just got to get his body right now and get him going later in the year if we can.”
North Melbourne, who are currently 15th on the AFL ladder with two wins in seven matches, will next face St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, May 7, with the first bounce scheduled for 4.40pm AEST.
