The Demons 8.13 (61) lost to the Roos 19.9 (123) giving North Melbourne coach Darren Crocker his first win as senior coach since taking over from Dean Laidley mid-season.
North Melbourne set up the win with a dominant period from the eight-minute mark of the second term until the mid-way stage of the third quarter, when it kicked nine goals to one. The Kangaroos led by 53 points at this point and never looked back.
Melbourne went into the round with 20 of its listed players unavailable after defender Jared Rivers was a late withdrawal, giving big man Paul Johnson a reprieve.
The Demons also unveiled two debutants: Rohan Bail and Tom McNamara.
But Bail had an unfortunate start to his AFL career. A little more than a minute into the match and the Queenslander was off after copping a knock. He returned briefly, but his day was soon over. It was revealed later that he suffered a quad injury in the warm-up.
McNamara lined up at centre half-back on Lachie Hansen and showed some good signs, although the Roo still kicked three goals.
Matthew Bate and James McDonald were Melbourne's best ball-winners with 27 touches each, while Nathan Jones (two goals and 26 disposals), Shane Valenti (21) and Lynden Dunn (22) all battled hard.
Aside from Jones, the Demons only had another four goalkickers – Stef Martin (two), Michael Newton (two), Brad Miller and Cale Morton.
For the Roos, Todd Goldstein was best-on-ground with five goals and 25 hit-outs, while fellow talls Drew Petrie (three goals) and Hansen (three) impressed. North Melbourne's highest possession winners were Daniel Harris and Sam Power with 27 touches each.
Despite the drubbing, there was little in it at the first break.
Although Melbourne had six scoring shots to four – and held a sizeable advantage in inside-50s – North Melbourne took a four-point lead into quarter-time.
The Demons failed to add a goal during the second term, while the Roos booted three to take 22-point lead into half time.
North dominated the first half of the third term with six of the opening seven goals. The Demons managed three of the last four goals to bring the margin back to 40 points at the final change.
Still, a comeback was never on the cards for the Demons and when the Roos started the last term with four in succession, they blew the deficit out to 63 points.
It continued a disappointing trend against North Melbourne, with the red and blue now dropping its past six against them. It was also Melbourne's fifth loss in a row at Docklands.
North Melbourne 4.1 7.5 14.8 19.9 (123)
Melbourne 3.3 3.7 7.10 8.13 (61)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Goldstein 5, Hansen 3, Petrie 3, Swallow 2, Harvey, C Jones, Rawlings, Harris, Firrito, Thomas
Melbourne: N Jones 2, Newton 2, Martin 2, Miller, Morton
BEST
North Melbourne: Goldstein, Firrito, Hansen, Petrie, Thompson, Harvey, Harris
Melbourne: Bate, Valenti, Jones, Dunn, Petterd, McDonald
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Melbourne: Bail (quad)
REPORTS
Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Sully, Pannell
Official crowd: 16,594 at Docklands
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
