In his 350th game, Brent Harvey again showed he has lost none of the pace, skill and cheek that has made him a North great. The 35-year-old was one of the best players on the ground against the Saints, finishing with 23 possessions and 4.4. The highlight came at the eight-minute mark of the second quarter when he got the ball on the wing and took off. Four bounces and a clever feint later Harvey had kicked one of his trademark running goals from point-blank range. Before Sunday's match, North had paid tribute to Harvey with a guard of honour featuring some of the most influential people in his career, including his fiancée, Shayne McLintock, father Neil and mother Debbie, and the lady who gave him his nickname 'Boomer', Teena Bailey.

 

With co-vice-captain Jack Ziebell serving the first week of a three-match suspension, North entered Sunday's match without one of its leading clearance and contested possession winners. The Roos needed someone to step up and pick up the slack left by the big-bodied Ziebell's absence around the stoppages against the Saints. As he has done for much of this year, Ben Cunnington led the way for the Roos in the midfield clinches. The hard-nosed onballer led his team with seven clearances, while milestone man Daniel Wells had six and Ryan Bastinac had five, as the Roos won the clearance count 44-35.

 

Roo Daniel Wells and Saint Leigh Montagna celebrated their 200-game milestones by spending most of Sunday's match at each other's side. The star midfielders waged a close-fought battle, with both valuable contributors for their teams. Wells finished with 24 possessions and Montagna had 23 possessions and kicked a third-quarter goal. Fittingly, both seemed to realise their place and did not outshine the main milestone man, Harvey.

 

Nick Riewoldt was no certainty to play  after his heavy head clash with Western Bulldog Liam Picken in the dying minutes of the Saints' round nine loss. But the St Kilda skipper led his team onto Etihad Stadium on Sunday and showed no ill-effects from the Picken knock to finish one of the Saints' best players. Despite often having to contend with in-form opponent Scott Thompson and loose North defender Lachlan Hansen, Riewoldt was his hard-running, sure-marking self, finishing with a team-high three goals and seven marks.

 

After enduring consecutive heartbreaking losses against West Coast and Adelaide, the Roos took their frustrations out on the Saints in the first quarter on Sunday. No doubt stung by coach Brad Scott publicly questioning their mental mettle, the Roos obliterated St Kilda in all facets of the game in the first term. The statistics told the horror story for the Saints. North led the possession count 132-51, contested possessions 49-26,uncontested possessions 84-22, clearances 15-6 and inside 50s 20-5. Most importantly, the Roos led on the scoreboard 9.7 (61) to 1.0 (6).