1. Goldstein sets new record against Mumford-less Giants
It was meant to be a mouthwatering clash between two of the league's most dominant rucks, with the Kangaroos' Todd Goldstein in the blue corner and the Giants Shane Mumford in the orange corner. However, Mumford's absence due to a season-ending ankle injury suffered in round 11 meant the ruck was more of an exhibition than a contest. The 201cm Goldstein showed off all of his skills to amass a VFL/AFL game record 80 hitouts against the taller, but vastly more inexperienced, Rory Lobb, helping the Kangaroos dominate the clearances 58-30.

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2. Roos break pre-bye duck to improve and stay in finals hunt
North Melbourne picked the perfect time to break an unwanted losing streak stretching back to 2011. In the past six seasons, the Kangaroos have lost all of their six home-and-away matches prior to having the bye. But a blistering opening half against the Giants, where they booted 10 goals to four on the way to a 32-point advantage at the main interval, helped the Kangaroos secure the four premiership points, move to a 6-6 win-loss record and stay within touching distance of the top eight.

GAMEBREAKER: Silky Dal straight back to work

3. Jacobs does the job on Shiel
Entering Saturday's twilight contest, Giants midfielder Dylan Shiel was averaging a club leading 29.1 possessions a game, the seventh highest in the league. However, the 22-year-old was unable to produce anywhere near those numbers against the Kangaroos, with minder Ben Jacobs limiting Shiel to just two possessions by quarter-time and six at the half. And Shiel was not alone, with fellow Giants midfielder Devon Smith also having his colours lowered on a disappointing day for the league's newest club.

4. Fortress Spotless spell broken
The injury-hit Giants, who were missing not just their champion ruckman Mumford but also the likes of Joel Patful, co-captain Phil Davis and Stephen Coniglio, suffered their first home loss of the season, having won their other three matches at Spotless in 2015. The result drops the club to a 7-5 win-loss record, meaning it will, in all probability, need to win five of its remaining 10 games if it is to secure a finals berth for the first time in its short history.

5. Petrie struck with friendly fire before the bounce
Drew Petrie was forced to start the match on the interchange bench after he collided with teammate Scott Thompson during the pre-match warm-up. Footage showed Petrie coming off the ground with his head bleeding just as the captains and umpires prepared to toss the coin. The Kangaroos veteran spent the first 12 minutes off the ground having treatment before entering the game with his head bandaged up. He finished the night with 10 touches, seven marks and two goals.