1. Roos rue Watson mastery
Before Sunday's game, Essendon skipper Jobe Watson had averaged 29 possessions a game against North Melbourne since 2006. The Roos would have put considerable planning into curtailing Watson but had to quickly come up with a plan B after their initial match-up - or at least Watson's principal opponent - Daniel Wells hobbled from the ground at the end of the first quarter. Despite the efforts of opponents that included Sam Gibson and Liam Anthony, Watson was his again outstanding against the Roos, racking up 32 possessions, seven tackles and one goal.

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2. 'Boom' time for Harvey
North looked flat at the start of the third quarter, but former North captain Brent Harvey gave his team the spark it needed when he kicked three goals in three minutes. The first came at the seven-minute mark when he marked in front of Bomber defender Michael Hibberd 55m out from goal and then left him standing on the mark with a trademark baulk as he ran inside 50 and kicked truly. A minute later he snapped another after a robust marking attempt from Robbie Tarrant created a spillage. He finished his 'three in three' when he pounced on the crumbs of a Drew Petrie-Dustin Fletcher wrestle in the goalsquare. Harvey took North from two points down to 14 up with almost the same speed as one of his trademark runs.

3. Roos' interchange handicap
North has enjoyed a great run with injury this season but its luck turned in the opening term against the Bombers. First, Leigh Adams left the field at the 25-minute mark holding the left shoulder that had seen him rested from North's game against the Western Bulldogs last Saturday. Two minutes' later Daniel Wells hobbled from the field with a calf injury and was also soon ruled out of the remainder of the game. It left the Roos a man short on the interchange bench for the remainder of the game. And in the last term defender Nathan Grima appeared to be hampered by a sore hip. The Roos defied these injuries to run out the game more strongly than the Bombers.

4. Stakes high, contest ferocious
As two of three teams seemingly locked in the battle for seventh and eighth on the ladder (along with Fremantle), the stakes were incredibly high for both teams and it showed in the first quarter. Seventh-placed North and eighth-placed Essendon - just 1.1 percentage points separated them before the game - threw everything at each other in a high-class first term. The ferocity of the clash was encapsulated in a contest between North forward Lachie Hansen and Bomber Nathan Lovett at the 10-minute mark. With the ball loose near the boundary line in North's forward 50, Hansen and Lovett-Murray attacked it from opposite directions and accidentally banged heads. Both players were forced from the field - Hansen after taking some minutes to regain his feet - but returned soon after and played out the game.

5. Melksham's magnificent mark
Jake Melksham is not renowned as a high-flyer but the Essendon midfielder made an honourable bid for Mark of the Year at the 29-minute mark of the first term. As the ball was pumped long to the Bombers' goalsquare, Melksham sprinted and launched himself over a pack containing teammate Michael Hurley and Roos defenders Michael Firrito and Scott McMahon. He then clutched the ball above his head, tucking it into his chest as he fell to the ground. Most importantly, he went back and slotted the goal to put the Bombers in front for the first time in the game.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.