NORTH Melbourne’s strong win over Great Western Sydney is proof the Roos can match it with the AFL’s best, fill-in coach Darren Crocker says.
The visitors lit up a chilly Spotless Stadium on Saturday, booting six goals in the opening term on the way to a commanding 56-point victory in front of 7,824 fans.
Five talking points: GWS v North Melbourne
The result lifts the Kangaroos to a 6-6 win-loss record heading into the bye and the second half of the season. They now sit equal on wins with seventh-placed Adelaide.
Crocker said the squad had bounced back well - with a strong win over West Coast in Hobart and a close-run loss to the Sydney Swans - after a poor second-half fadeout against Collingwood in round nine left the club "searching for answers".
"We feel like we are starting to find a few of those answers," Crocker said after the match.
"To get the job done today should give the guys some belief and evidence that we are a good team.
WATCH: Darren Crocker's full media conference
"Now the guys can go away, freshen up with next weekend off and really relaunch in the second half of the year."
Crocker said he was pleased the team was able to put the Giants away in the final term after some "sloppy" play after half-time allowed their opponents to narrow the margin to 23 points.
"We were disappointed in the fact that something we have been really striving for and challenging the players to do is to bring a really strong four-quarter performance and we're still yet to do that really," Crocker said.
"We've just got to keep working away at it."
One highlight was the efforts of Kangaroos ruckman Todd Goldstein, who set a new VFL/AFL record with 80 hit-outs. In contrast, the Giants only managed 23. And the 201cm ruckman's performance allowed the Kangaroos to decisively win the clearances 57-31.
Crocker said Goldstein, who played the final three quarters with stitches in his eye after suffering a heavy knock early, was having a tremendous season.
In addition to Goldstein's eye, Kangaroos veteran Drew Petrie also required stitches after a head clash in the pre-game warmup.
And in other injury news, Crocker said Jarrad Waite had his ankle re-strapped and Robbie Tarrant suffered what the club believed was a jarred thumb but all should be OK.
On a sour note, Andrew Swallow was reported for tripping in a third quarter incident with Giants player Josh Kelly but Crocker said he didn’t see the incident.
Following the bye, North Melbourne heads to the Gold Coast to face the Suns.
