NORTH Melbourne's finals hopes have received a huge boost with a 54-point win over Fremantle at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The Kangaroos got off to a flying start to lead by six goals at quarter time, and though Fremantle cut the margin to 11 points at the main break, they were never headed on their way to the 19.9 (123) to 10.9 (69) result.
While North's September dream edges closer, Fremantle's prospects of finishing in the top four are looking shaky.
Brady Rawlings starred for North, gathering 39 possessions and shutting the dangerous Stephen Hill right out of the game. Held to seven touches, Hill's impact was minimal.
Coach Brad Scott said Rawlings' performance was fantastic.
"It's one of the more outstanding run-with roles I've ever seen," he said. "I've seen some pretty good ones.
"Hill went into defence and I was pretty keen for Brady to go with him.
"To really dominate like that against Stephen Hill, who is going to be a superstar of the competition - he's well on his way to that level already.
"He's just so damaging for them and not only did Brady nullify his influence, he was terrific for us offensively as well."
Captain Brent Harvey was prolific around the ground, finishing with 34 disposals and three goals, while Daniel Wells was significant as a rebounding defender and occasionally ventured forward.
Dylan Roberton played a similar role for Fremantle to be one of his side's best players, and though fellow youngster Nathan Fyfe was also busy he too often ignored his first option and took too long to dispose of the ball.
Sam Wright and Ryan Bastinac, who booted three of the seven first-term goals, also shone for the winners.
Nathan Grima did a superb job in defence on Matthew Pavlich, with Fremantle far too predictable in going to him every time it ventured forward.
It missed the injured Hayden Ballantyne, just as it did Chris Tarrant and Aaron Sandilands. Tarrant left his side undersized in the back half and Sandilands' absence allowed Hamish McIntosh and Todd Goldstein to set up the play in the ruck.
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey was not using his missing stars as an excuse.
''It's just hard to work out going from playing like we did last week," he said.
"Forget about personnel and who played and who didn't play and then to play like that. We got punished from turnovers. [They kicked] 15 goals from turnovers. You may as well just let them drive straight through you when you do that.
''We got caught in transition and we allowed them to move the ball too easily at times. We didn't force enough pressure, and the only time we forced enough pressure was when we gained an advantage on the scoreboard, which was in the second quarter.''
In Tarrant's absence, Antoni Grover played above himself in defence and got the better of taller opponents McIntosh and Goldstein when they drifted into attack.
Fremantle recovered from its slow start to kick six goals to two in the second term but the home side set things straight in the third, booting six goals to one.
North Melbourne 7.2 9.5 15.8 19.9 (123)
Fremantle 1.2 7.6 8.7 10.9 (69)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Harvey 3, Wright 3, Bastinac 3, McIntosh 2, Edwards 2, Hansen 2, Goldstein, Wells, Adams, Thomas
Fremantle: de Boer 2, Hasleby 2, Mundy 2, Fyfe, Bollenhagen, Johnson, Bradley
BEST
North Melbourne: Rawlings, McIntosh, Harvey, Goldstein, Garlett, Wells, Bastinac, Edwards
Fremantle: Roberton, Broughton, Duffield, Hasleby, Grover, Mundy
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Fremantle: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nicholls, Kamolins, Ryan
Official crowd: 14,891 at Etihad Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
