{"id":750396,"date":"2026-06-21T07:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T07:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/750396\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T07:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T07:43:14","slug":"kangaroos-down-tigers-in-scrap-to-enhance-wildcard-finals-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/750396\/","title":{"rendered":"Kangaroos down Tigers in scrap to enhance wildcard finals claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AAP<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"article-datetime\" class=\"sc-5cbbddda-5 hxoHkT\">June 21, 2026 \u2014 4:13pm<\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p>AAA<\/p>\n<p>Cooper Trembath\u2019s four goals have highlighted North Melbourne\u2019s 25-point victory over Richmond in an ugly, scrappy match at the MCG.<\/p>\n<p>The 10.13 (73) to 6.12 (48) result on Sunday gives the Kangaroos back-to-back wins and distance from their 124-point mauling from Fremantle, as they try to return to the finals for the first time in a decade.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"North Melbourne comfortably defeated Richmond to enhance their claims for a wildcard finals berth.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3b5332c7139f022a3f246b79460fee0f184c33c7.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ioInpc\"\/>North Melbourne comfortably defeated Richmond to enhance their claims for a wildcard finals berth.Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>After North posted the first goal of the final term and opened up a game-high lead of 34 points, Noah Balta kicked two in a row to keep the contest tight. But Richmond could only kick another goal and North held on for the win.<\/p>\n<p>Harry Sheezel had 31 possessions to lead the Kangaroos midfield and James Trezise was solid for the Tigers.<\/p>\n<p>Related Article<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/sport\/afl\/we-get-clicks-collingwood-coach-addresses-obsession-with-pies-ageing-list-20260620-p608nb.html\" tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"sc-cba76dee-0 hdiTqm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Craig McRae and Jeremy Howe after the win over the Power.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782027794_61_13f752b7a78b76d4c60b412a934ff01c05905b9c.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ioInpc\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Despite sunny conditions and little breeze, the start of the game seemed to take inspiration from the soccer World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>There was no score until nearly 10 minutes in, when the Tigers pounced on a defensive turnover and Sam Banks kicked a goal on the run.<\/p>\n<p>It was one-all at the first break after George Wardlaw responded.<\/p>\n<p>Two goals in as many minutes gave North the jump at the start of the second and Jasper Alger replied with an outstanding goal from deep in a pocket.<\/p>\n<p>Trembath\u2019s one-handed mark and goal gave the Kangaroos an eight-point break at halftime.<\/p>\n<p>He kicked another two in the third as Richmond were kept goalless.<\/p>\n<p>The Kangaroos opened up a 26-point lead and while the Tigers were hesitant in their ball movement, North were rewarded for being prepared to use the corridor.<\/p>\n<p>Playing his first game since round two, Richmond captain Toby Nankervis was up against Trembath in the ruck at the centre ball-ups.<\/p>\n<p>Trembath would then immediately go forward and Tristan Xerri or Taylor Goad would do the ruck work around the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p>From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AAP June 21, 2026 \u2014 4:13pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-750396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}