North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson described his side’s performance as “dreadful” after slumping to a staggering 124-point loss to Fremantle in Bunbury on Saturday. The Roos matched the Dockers for the first quarter and a bit, but remarkably didn’t kick another goal after the seventh minute in the second term.
Fremantle piled on 19 consecutive goals to notch the biggest win in their history and maintain their spot at the top of the ladder. For North Melbourne, it was the seventh-biggest loss in their history and their final score of 4.7 (31) was their lowest in four years.
Clarkson's Reaction
“Fremantle were good and we were dreadful,” Clarkson said. “Perhaps you have a little bit of shame because we want to come over here and be putting on a better performance than we did today.”
“They sat us on the back foot early in terms of contest and we never really recovered from it.”
Turnovers Prove Costly
Clarkson lamented his side’s constant turnovers, which played right into Fremantle’s hands. “The amount of times we had the ball and actually gave it back to them; perceived pressure,” he said.
“We gave it back to them too easily and that then is like a cancer – it just rips right through the way you play the game.”
“You become more hesitant with ball in hand yourself, you become more reactionary to their ball movement.”
“Our whole game fell apart today – and most of it, in my view, was due to the fact that we couldn’t compete at the coalface anywhere near to the level that’s required at AFL footy.”
Lack of Toughness
The performance came just two weeks after they staged a miraculous comeback to defeat Gold Coast before they had the week off. Clarkson said his side lacked toughness and resilience in the contest, which he attributed to not handling the break in routine during their mid-season bye last round.
“How often do we see that, that a team is just so poor coming back from a bye and having a rest?” he said.
“You get out of your routine and you get out of your resilient, tough approach.”
“We were dreadful in that space today from start to finish really.”
“In the second quarter in particular, I think they scored four goals from centre bounce and two from forward 50 stoppages which really, they are soul destroying.”
“I can only put it down to not the same routine and resolve as what we’ve had from training session to training session.”
“We just came out of this particular bye really, really poorly. We’ve got a week to try and get ourselves back going again.”
Home Game Embarrassment
Adding to North’s embarrassment, the horror show against Fremantle came in a “home” game they sold to the WA government. It was played at Bunbury’s Hands Oval, about 175km south of Perth, where the Kangaroos performed far more admirably in a narrow win over West Coast last year.
They next meet the Eagles at Optus Stadium on Saturday in the second of two consecutive WA “home” fixtures. Clarkson welcomed the chance for the Kangaroos to regroup while spending the week together in the west.
“When you have results like today, the best thing to do is be together and be on the road,” Clarkson said.
“I’d reckon it will smarten us all up. If we don’t come to a game of footy ready to compete from start to finish, you’re going to get your pants pulled down.”
“That was certainly the case today, but the beauty of the game is we get another opportunity in seven days’ time to try to rectify that.”
“But we know exactly where it sits - how hard and tough do we want to be at the contest?”
North defender Riley Hardeman won’t play against West Coast after he was concussed before halftime in the Fremantle loss.
