EVEN in 2025, there remains a powerful place in the AFL for old-fashioned, within-rules brutality in actions and words.

Exhibit A is Zak Butters and Exhibit B could be Kenny Hinkley. That duo last Sunday night created a compelling, physically charged sense of purpose which took Port Adelaide to a stunning, against-odds and potentially season-rejuvenating win against Hawthorn.

>> ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION FROM DAMIAN BARRETT

Alastair Clarkson, once the king in this space, should "do a Kenny" and revert to his own brand of ruthlessness before his rebuild of North Melbourne slides further into problems. And he should do it immediately, from this Friday when the Roos play their seventh Good Friday match, against Carlton at Marvel Stadium.

Like most of the on-field numbers attached to North Melbourne in the past six seasons, the Good Friday ones are embarrassing. The Roos had desperately sought access to the slot from the AFL for more than 20 years, and since being granted it in 2017, it has played on that day on seven occasions against four different opponents for one win and six losses, with four of the losses by nine goals or more.

North Melbourne, and Clarkson, cannot dish up another poor performance on Good Friday 2025. The opponent this week has been performing arguably as badly as the Roos, with the Blues' only win coming in Gather Round against the dreadful West Coast.

For Clarkson and his team, this week there are no excuses. There shouldn't have been any last week, either, but Clarkson felt the need to publicly venture down the excuse path after conceding 11 of the final 13 goals against Gold Coast in Gather Round, citing the heat in the Barossa as a problem.

It may well have been, but when Clarkson was at Hawthorn and overseeing the Unsociable Hawks dynasty, excuses were for the weak only.

At Hawthorn, Clarkson and his players semi-regularly transgressed when it came to rules, but the penalties that they were hit with were powerful reinforcement to the rest of the competition of an uncompromising pursuit of success.

Granted, the North list doesn't have a Buddy Franklin, Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jarryd Roughead or Cyril Rioli. But it has had more than ample access to high-end national draft picks, from Jy Simpkin (No.12 in 2016), to Luke Davies-Uniacke (four, 2017), Tarryn Thomas (eight, 2018), Will Phillips (three, 2018), Tom Powell (13, 2020), Jason Horne-Francis (one, 2021), Harry Sheezel (three, 2022), George Wardlaw (four, 2022), Zane Duursma (four, 2023), Colby McKercher (two, 2023) and Finn O'Sullivan (two, 2024).

North Melbourne has been a mess since those in charge moved to exit Brad Scott in 2019, and while Clarkson continues to plead for patience on assessments made of him, the Rhyce Shaw (2020) and David Noble (2021-22) coaching stints mean the club is already into its sixth season of attempted rebuilding.

Clarkson has won just seven matches at North. His two most recent games have seen the Roos lose by a combined 117 points to Gold Coast and Sydney.

North Melbourne chief executive Jen Watt was a guest presenter at the club CEOs conference in Adelaide last Friday, and her speech, which was very well received by those spoken to by AFL.com.au, provided an insight into the many challenges of a smaller club within the AFL system.

One point of reference was the battle for access to free-to-air matches, with the Roos receiving just five in the past three seasons.

Which is why the club's next exposure to a marquee slot - this Friday - cannot finish with another sub-standard result.

Kenny and Zak simply willed themselves to victory last Sunday. The entire Port team followed. Really keen to see if Clarko has still got the capacity to do so.