The moment
Running out to a banner that said "We are the North Melbourne Football Club" was a cracking way to start the day given what was a tumultuous off-season. Sadly, apart from a brief moment in the second quarter when we shot out to a four-goal lead, that was as good as it got.
Goal of the game
Lindsay Thomas showed glimpses of his talent in his debut AFL season last year, so much is expected of the 20-year-old in 2008. He got his season off to the best possible start with three goals to the early stages of the second term before being one of many Roos to have a subdued second half. The highlight of his game came early in the first quarter when he pounced on a spillage from a terrific Nathan Thompson tackle deep in the Roos' forward line before spinning out of trouble and slotting through his – and North's – second of the match.
The move
Josh Gibson has done a few hatchet jobs on some of the game's biggest stars in his brief 24-game career, so the job on Essendon's gun full forward Matthew Lloyd didn't seem beyond him. With Scott Lucas off the field, Gibson and Lloyd were isolated on a few occasions during the crucial middle stages of the match, with the Essendon skipper invariably coming out on top. Michael Firrito was able to curb Lloyd's influence later in the match, but by that stage, Essendon had stormed to the lead and were never headed.
Coaches' award
As North's best and most versatile big man, Drew Petrie is often asked to plug holes wherever they open up. With dangerous forward Corey Jones out of commission early, coach Dean Laidley seemed determined to leave David Hale up front, even when his regular rucking partner Hamish McIntosh was summoned to the bench for a spell. That meant Petrie was called on to spend various stages of the game in defence, in the ruck and even at centre half-forward. Despite being pulled from pillar to post for much of the afternoon, Petrie was one of the side's best.
King of the Kids
Matt Campbell would have covered just about every blade of grass in the Roos' forward 50 on Monday. He finished the day with 16 possessions and four tackles, not a bad effort given he was stationed almost permanently in the front half of the ground. Despite not kicking a goal himself, the 21-year-old's tackling and harassing caused the Bombers into more than one turnover on the Roos' scoring zone.
Syd Barker watch
There weren't many standouts but Shannon Grant started the match off in blistering form and was a solid performer for most of the match (even if his usually reliable left boot was a bit off). Nathan Thompson's four goals signalled a good return to senior footy after a 12-month lay-off and his namesake, Scott Thompson, looks like he might be a good find after a promising debut.
Ladder
Not pretty viewing at this early stage. Only Melbourne keeps us above last place after their 104-point hammering by Hawthorn.
Next week
Richmond looked full of running in their come-from-behind win over Carlton on Thursday night. They have also had a couple of extra days to recover for the Sunday twilight game so the Roos' conditioning staff will have to be at their best to have the boys up and ready for this one.
The views in this story are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the club or the AFL.
