NORTH MELBOURNE 4.1 5.4 8.6 9.7 (61) WESTERN BULLDOGS 2.1 3.4 6.6 6.9 (45)
Goals: North Melbourne: J Waite 4, B Brown, D Petrie, J Ziebell, L Thomas, S Higgins. Western Bulldogs: K Stevens, L Dahlhaus, L Jong, M Bontempelli, T Dickson, T McLean.
BEST North Melbourne: Waite, Wells, Swallow, Thompson, Petrie, Cunnington. Western Bulldogs: Hunter, Biggs, Macrae, Dahlhaus, Stevens, Boyd.
Umpires: Chris Donlon, Troy Pannell, Jordan Bannister.
Official Crowd: 47,622 at Etihad Stadium.
Like several of the speculative leaps made on North Melbourne's forward line, this match hung on the verge of something special, but didn't quite get there. Rare air sometimes leads only to giddiness. For the Roos, another resolute performance and a sixth straight victory to start 2016 is dizzying enough.
This was for both these middleweight teams a height rarely visited, and even more rarely together: Friday night, first versus second, top spot for a prize. The Dogs have been top for a total of only 62 weeks in their history, the Roos even more spasmodically. The last time they met on this night and these terms was round 2, 1998.
The fare did not quite match the bill. But the occasion had two redeeming qualities, novelty and even-ness. The margin did not budge between quarter and three-quarter time. For that matter, the scoreboard didn't budge much. North won't worry much about critiques of the quality of the game. They did what they came to do. They've done it all season so far.
The Roos made their score by efficiency from forward entries, relatively. They had to because they didn't have much of the ball. The Dogs made their score by bulk of possession, hoping for the straw that would break North's back. They had to because they didn't have the key position manpower.
The defences were equally gallant, North's because it stood firm under siege, the Dogs' because it stood firm against markedly taller opposition. Scott Thompson was the towering figure in the game. The "mark" in "markedly" is advised. But it was Jarrad Waite's sweet grab and fourth goal that finally settled the night. It was the only goal of the last quarter.
It wasn't so much stage fright as some sort of block. North is the most free-scoring team of the year, but they and the Dogs went quarters at a time advancing only by small change. The Dogs were the fastest-moving team of the year, but this night found only spokes in their wheels. As the play concertinaed in midfield, some passages of play consisted entirely of turnovers. It was like two people trying to get out of a lift at the same time: you go, no you, no you, ok, sorry.
Not surprisingly, midfielders had the preponderance of the ball, even more than usual. Equally unsurprisingly, the Dogs ruled there, having it 80 more times than North. Lachie Hunter had it 44 times himself. Daniel Wells was North's best with 27 touches,but they were oh, so creamy,.
Such monkey-grip commitment is much prized by coaches, and a kind of spectacle in its own right, but it was antithetical to the slick and zippy footy we've grown accustomed to this season, not least from these two teams.
It didn't help that the Dogs were trying to cover for a rash of injuries, nearly all to half-backs, the line where it all begins for them, but this night where they were most wobbly. Nor did it help that North ran into a spot of injury bother on the night. At least the Dogs had all week to make contingency plans, the Roos had to make them on the run.
It's out of both their systems now. The Roos have a blueprint, and it is working. The Dogs had one, but injury has compromised it. Nonetheless, the season is young.
Historians would of course have noted that these were two of the sides who came into the competition in 1925. The other was Hawthorn. All had long periods of straggling, but the Hawks have shown their peers the way not just to a premiership or two, but the seat of power. Who says expansion doesn't work?
