NORTH Melbourne kept the flicker in their AFL finals hopes, while Greater Western Sydney took a step closer to an unwanted piece of history at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The Giants' 86-point loss to the rampant Kangaroos was their 13th in a row this season, and they continue to close in on being the first team in AFL/VFL history since Fitzroy in 1964 to go through a season winless.
Drew Petrie booted five goals for the Kangaroos, Lindsay Thomas kicked four and Brent Harvey three as well as 24 possessions as their side dominated to win 19.16 (130) to 6.8 (44).
However, the win was soured by an incident involving star forward Thomas, who appeared to headbutt a Giants player early in the final term.
North Melbourne will face a nervous wait during Match Review Panel proceedings tomorrow with a big clash against Richmond looming on Saturday.
A forgettable match was over as a contest by the end of the first quarter - the Kangaroos piling on eight goals to one to set up the victory.
GWS moved into damage limitation mode in the second term by putting players behind the ball - a tactic which worked to a degree as the sides booted four goals apiece in the quarter.
But the Kangaroos had the better of a dire second half, restricting the Giants to just one goal.
North coach Brad Scott admitted he was pleased with how his team had coped with the Giants' unusual defensive tactics.
"The main thing we take away from that is the opposition threw something pretty strange at us, and we were able to respond really quickly," Scott said.
"I called for an organised effort from our boys, and after half-time we really got that."
Critical to the Giants breaking their duck this season appears to be next Saturday's clash with fellow strugglers the Western Bulldogs in Canberra.
Sheedy admitted he had not considered the prospect of the team going through their sophomore season without a win.
But he admitted the importance of the Bulldogs game had been a topic of post-match conversation.
"It's an opportunity for us to try and search for our first win, and I've been speaking about that to the players," Sheedy said.
"I haven't thought about that (the prospect of a winless season) to be honest.
"The task you take on when you try to build this club from the real, deep foundation ... is you suffer some losses early like the Brisbane Bears did and the Swans did."
The Bulldogs lost to fellow battlers Melbourne this weekend, and have won just three of their 13 matches this campaign.
North moves to a 5-8 win-loss record, continuing to keep alive their faint chances of making this season's finals.
The Giants lost leading goalkicker Jeremy Cameron to illness before bouncedown, with Sheedy confident he will return to play the Bulldogs.
NORTH MELBOURNE 8.3 12.6 15.10 19.16 (130)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 1.3 5.3 6.6 6.8 (44)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Petrie 5, Thomas 4, Harvey 3, Tarrant, Mullett, Adams, Bastinac, Ziebell, Goldstein, Macmillan
Greater Western Sydney: O'hAilpin 2, Corr, Sumner, Hoskin-Elliott, Reid
BEST
North Melbourne: Hansen, Thompson, Petrie, Thomas, Harvey, Swallow, Bastinac Gibson
Greater Western Sydney: Corr, Treloar, Scully, Shiel
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Greater Western Sydney: Cameron (virus) replaced in selected side by O'hAilpin
SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Jamie Macmillan replaced Nathan Grima in the fourth quarter
Greater Western Sydney: Jacob Townsend replaced Zac Williams at three-quarter time
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Leppard, Hay
Official crowd: 15,438 at Etihad Stadium
