titan_uranus

Another streak: we haven't had a winning record at the end of any round (other than Round 1) since Round 6 2011 (we were 3-1-2 after beating Adelaide by 96 points).

Well that would break another streak - haven't won three games in a row since Rounds 17, 18 and 19 of 2010 (beat Sydney by 73, Brisbane by 10, Richmond by 29).

Another streak: Finish a round (other than Round 1) in the top 8 - last time that happened was Round 14, 2011. I think there's a slight-ish chance if we beat Richmond we'll be in the eight after this round (not sure though).

Doesn't count IMO. Rounds 13 and 14 2011 is the real answer (funnily enough, the second of those two wins was against non other than Richmond).

6 - Viney 5 - Watts 4 - Kent 3 - Hogan 2 - N Jones 1 - Jetta

PS: we all know the Essendon game was unacceptably bad on all fronts, but when you see what GWS has done since playing us (beat Geelong, ran Sydney for 3 quarters, thrashed Port) and you notice North is the only undefeated side in the comp (having beaten Adelaide, too), you have to be pleased with going 2-1 in the three non-Essendon games so far.

Noticed their work as a duo more today than ever before. They make space, they lead well and not to the same spot, they both run all day (so do Frost and Pedo, too). The forward line is looking much better now than it has in 10 years.

Problem is, he makes a huge amount of errors. Someone's got to be dropped and numbers aren't everything (or Oliver would be the automatic out). Personally, I suspect one of Brayshaw or Oliver will be rested (may well be Brayshaw if he did get a bit of concussion) and Vince will come in. Garlett may need another week and/or a run at Casey to get his touch back. If Garlett is 100% fit then, for mine, it's out of Bugg, Harmes, Hunt and the other of Brayshaw/Oliver to make way. Bugg and Harmes, IMO, make more mistakes than the rest. But no one deserves to be dropped. Petracca et al. need to keep knocking the door down at Casey. Their time will come.

Lazy. So, so lazy. Getting Kennedy for him was a huge win.

Great team performance. No passengers, no clear best player and no major failures. Hunt and Wagner stood out and showed all of us who queried their joint selection were wrong to do so. Frost played his best game; still makes a lot of errors and fumbles too much but keep improving and he holds his spot. Hogan and Watts are now working together as leading forwards. They lead away from each other, they make space for one another (Hogan's remembered how to run after the Essendon shocker). The whole team is developing chemistry but those two especially. Loved Kent's game. The past fortnight has been a great response to his pathetic display vs Essendon. I've never seen him run as fast as he did today, he got on his bike defensively to do the role Garlett would normally do. I loved it. Really great game from him. Thought Dunn, McDonald, Jetta and Lumumba were a great defensive unit too. Lumumba is so much more useful when he lowers his eyes. Jetta destroyed Fasolo, Dunn destroyed Cloke (that doesn't take much in 2016, it seems). Shout out to Pedersen too. 20 possessions, all over the ground, solid hands, and he ran himself into the ground. We now have four key forwards (Hogan, Watts, Frost, Pedersen) who are willing to run all day, lead up and down the ground, chase, tackle etc. Throw Garlett, VDB and Petracca into the mix and it's shaping up nicely. Still a few too many fumbles, turnovers, silly mistakes, poor free kicks and lapses in concentration for my liking but that's now 3 out of 4 games with commitment, team work and effort. It's coming together. Need to back it up against Richmond but if we do that the confidence and belief will solidify.

Geelong's had 16 scoring shots in the second half (4.12) to Essendon's 2 (1.1). If Geelong had lost they would have had no one to blame but themselves, but they've won because they deserve to win. Nonetheless, it shows Essendon is going to push some sides this year (other than us). On current form, Brisbane would have to be worried about picking up the spoon this year.

I agree that the next three weeks are big weeks for this club. It's quite sad, though, that after all this time, I find it borderline-impossible to consider the thought of us winning all three. It's been so long since we won two in a row, let along went on any sort of "winning streak", that I just find it so difficult to conceive it might actually happen. It all starts tomorrow. Win tomorrow, build confidence (starting with last week's strong showing), get a crack at a struggling foe, and see if we can't get that monkey off the back.

You'd have thought after last year's Carlton debacle that the AFL/Channel 7 would have learned their lesson on fixturing. Have a look at Richmond's fixture: Round 1 - Thursday night Round 2 - Friday night Round 4 - Friday night Round 5 - Sunday night (prime time) Round 7 - Friday night Rounds 8-10 - Saturday night (all on Channel 7) Round 11 - Friday night Round 15 - Friday night Round 16 - Saturday night (Channel 7) Round 20 - Friday night 16 of their 21 currently-scheduled games are televised on Channel 7. Who the f**k thought it was a good idea to show Richmond in prime time in 8 of the first 10 weeks of the year?

Whilst the changes kind of work on a like-for-like basis (Pedersen-VDB, Brayshaw-Vince, Hunt-Stretch), I'm certainly worried by the inclusion of Frost as well as Pedersen, and Hunt and Wagner's total lack of experience (and, to be perfectly honest, VFL form). I'm not a huge Dawes fan but I'd 100% take Dawes at CHF over Frost right now. It's sad, but I feel like we play a man down with Frost. I like giving games to Hunt and Wagner but I'd prefer them to be getting those games on the back of VFL form.

Why shouldn't we expect a win? Yes, part of that is subjective and biased. But objectively, Collingwood is playing awful football. They've played three games of tripe. We've played one game of tripe but two games of quality (and we've done it against decent sides, too). I don't think its outlandish to say we should be favourites for this game or that we should expect a win.

Just watching passages of play and highlights, Gawn's 63 hit outs were so much more than just hit outs. How many chains of movement and/or direct goals did he set up with perfect hit outs? To do that against Goldstein, of all people, is a sure sign he is developing into a stellar ruckman.

On the score (131), that was our highest score against anyone other than GWS since we scored 149 to beat Fremantle in Round 13, 2011 (coincidentally, the first of our last two consecutive wins). The two GWS games were in 2012 (GWS' first season) and 2013 (when we kicked 12 goals in the fourth).

Assuming Garlett is fit, he comes in for Vince. If he's not fit, that spot goes to Brayshaw, but he has to be fit enough. If Garlett is fit, then I'd consider bringing Brayshaw in for Bugg who, IMO, just isn't adding enough as a midfielder. But again, Brayshaw has to be fit. I'd prefer Pedersen to Frost as the back-up ruck but I'm not sure there's much point to dropping Frost a second time after just one game. Petracca needs at least another VFL game, if not for fitness then for getting that game-day touch back. With Moore injured for Collingwood I see no need to bring OMac or Garland back into the side. Neither played well in the seniors so far this year so let them both find some form first.

I think they stop the clock when the umpire is setting a player on the right angle, so that the player can't benefit from being on a better angle than he should be (i.e. by stopping the clock the player can't play on so he is forced by the umpire into his tighter angle). Kent was on his angle and there was no need to stop the clock. With his inexperience, I think he just got a bit caught in the headlights and wasn't sure if he should take the kick himself (it was 50 meres, I think) or pass it, and he froze just a tad. The extra second or two would most likely not have mattered. In the end we got it inside 50 from the ensuing bounce. If we're going to nitpick, the bigger issue IMO was Bugg's poor kick.

Garlett comes straight back in, not sure who makes way (Bugg?). We also have a major issue with Frost as the back-up ruckman. He can't ruck. He also can't play forward, but the ruck issue is worse. Pedersen is hardly any better as a forward but there's no question in my mind he's a better back-up ruckman than Frost. North got right on top whenever Frost was in the ruck. Not every team has Goldstein to take advantage of that situation, of course, but Frost as the ruckman worries me.

The big question now becomes whether we play like this next week. If we slip back, at any point this year, to what we did against Essendon, I will be angry, and if it happens next week it will be that much worse. Play like this next week and we win. Ditto the week after vs Richmond.

No doubt that is the required effort, intensity and ball movement that we need to see weekly this year. This is what we should look like every week, not just after a bad loss or after we force ourselves to pick up the effort.

Is there a wind? If so who is kicking with it this quarter?

No late changes for either side. Starting bench: Oliver, Stretch, Wagner, Harmes. Total number of games = 23 North's starting bench: Swallow, Dal Santo, Harvey, Macmillan. Total games = 984.

Just having a look at our record in the games immediately following last year's embarrassing/disgraceful losses: Last year, the week after we lost to Hawthorn by 100+ points, we beat the Dogs. The game after we lost to St Kilda in the dying seconds, we beat Geelong in Geelong. The week after we lost to Essendon, we beat Brisbane (albeit playing poorly still). The week after we lost to St Kilda the second time (at the G) we then beat Collingwood. The week after we lost to Carlton, we lost to Fremantle in Perth. So that's 3 wins, 2 losses in five of our worse performances last year. Three of our better wins (Dogs, Geelong, Collingwood) came the week after a shocker, too.