CAPTAIN Jack Ziebell is disappointed for dumped Kangaroos Andrew Swallow and Lindsay Thomas, but says their demotions will send a "powerful" message to the club's young players.
Swallow – Ziebell's predecessor as skipper – and Thomas will play for VFL affiliate Werribee this weekend after failing to perform to their past standard this year.
Thomas hasn't kicked a goal in four of his five matches, while Swallow is averaging just 16.2 disposals as he struggles to adapt to a new role between the midfield and up forward.
They are both 29 years old and their slumps are untimely at a club with an 0-5 record and fresh from moving on veterans Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Nick Dal Santo, Michael Firrito and Daniel Wells.
Midfielders Shaun Higgins and Jed Anderson replaced Swallow and Thomas in the senior side.
"I think (Thomas and Swallow being dropped) sends a message to everyone at our footy club that there's no individual that's bigger than the club," Ziebell said on Friday.
"If you're not doing what's required, then we'll bring someone in who can. I think for our young guys, it's a pretty powerful message.
"We have a lot of guys who are trying their guts out at the moment and doing really well in the reserves, and opportunities aren't far away.
"When you're 0-5, change is inevitable and we need to make sure we get on the winning ledger this week and try and keep a consistent level of performance up for four quarters."
North has given up leads of about 30 points three times this season to eventually go down by less than a goal, as it did against Fremantle on Saturday night.
Ziebell said the responsibility of that unwanted record sat with the players.
"We have been in every game this year and in control of some we probably should have capitalised on that we didn't," he said.
"We understand why we haven't and how we can change that as well.
"I think as a playing group we'll take responsibility for that and make sure when a team gets a run on, we can change something up … because what we've done so far hasn't really worked."
Saturday night's opponent Gold Coast has beaten the Roos in three of their past four meetings and boasts one of the competition's best forwards in Tom Lynch.
"They're very talented across all lines and when they put it together are a very hard team to beat," Ziebell said of the Suns.
"We'll look to control the game the best we can and take it from there, but definitely we'll have to be on our toes to get the job done.
"Tom (Lynch) is an absolute star of the competition and we'll definitely be doing everything we can to halt his momentum."
