Great\u2019s huge Fraser declaration as Blues, Pies renew hostilities \u2014 LIVE<\/a><\/p>\nWhoever we play, needs to play at 100% | 07:57<\/p>\n
THE 3-2-1 (what we learned) with Catherine Healey …<\/p>\n
3. DEES ANSWER THE CHALLENGE<\/p>\n
Melbourne looked a little shell-shocked in the first term when the Kangaroos opened up a four-goal buffer.<\/p>\n
But two quick goals to Matt Jefferson late saw the Dees head into the first break trailing by just 12. And from there, the match turned in their favour as North\u2019s run stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey could smell fear \u2013 as soon as they smell fear, they\u2019ll just put you to the sword,\u201d Ben Dixon said of the Dees.<\/p>\n
Dwayne Russell was full of praise for how Melbourne turned the match around \u2013 particularly through players who have battled to get into the line-up in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarted the season talking about whether Melbourne could be a contender for the top 10,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we started talking top eight \u2013 and then we started talking top six.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are a contender for top four.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they are into the top four now with this victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we should be talking about them as a premiership contender in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win lifts the Dees (48 points) into the top four \u2013 with Hawthorn (46 points) and Brisbane (44 points) still to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few of these Melbourne players like (Jake) Lever, dropped last year, but a big change under Steven King for this Melbourne team who lost Steven May, lost Clayton Oliver, lost Christian Petracca, haven\u2019t had Jack Viney all year and yet they are on the rise up the ladder,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are threatening some of the big dogs of the comp right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked how Melbourne \u201ckeep doing it\u201d, skipper Max Gawn bristled in his answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question how does Melbourne keep doing it, I think we\u2019ve done it enough for that question not to exist anymore,\u201d he told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been able to suck it up time and time and time again.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. ROOS PROVE THEIR OWN WORST ENEMY<\/p>\n
North Melbourne led by 24 points in a blistering start, but managed just a four-point buffer at the main break due to inaccuracy.<\/p>\n
Worryingly, they kicked their sixth goal at the 22-minute mark of the second quarter \u2013 yet only managed five more after that; three in the dying minutes when the result was already done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been the problem for North \u2013 playing in patches, showing good signs,\u201d AFL great Jason Dunstall said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you can\u2019t do it for four quarters the good teams will just open you up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stats showed at half time, North were sitting at just 29% for scores per inside 50.<\/p>\n
And they didn\u2019t fare much better efficiency wise after half time \u2013 despite coach Alastair Clarkson calling for more \u201cpolish\u201d.<\/p>\n
Cam Zurhaar was the first offender in the third when his horror kick in went directly to Matt Jefferson \u2013 who put it back over Zurhaar\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
\u201cClarko spoke about taking care of the footy \u2013 and that is not taking care of the footy!\u201d Dunstall lamented.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot afford to do that!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the difference between a potential top four side and a side that\u2019s trying to get themselves into a wildcard discussion,\u201d Nathan Buckley added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s these errors here \u2013 it\u2019s the shooting yourself in the foot that really does hurt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you start coughing up balls like that and gifting them to the opposition, who are already on their tucker and winning clearance, winning field position, you know they are going to play the game out. It makes for a long afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
As North went on a 46-minute goal drought, Dwayne Russell said: \u201cNorth fans have seen this movie before\u201d.<\/p>\n
Even on their rebound, the Roos were guilty of turnover \u2013 and Melbourne made them pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve done this the last couple of weeks \u2013 been competitive but had games stolen from them,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMelbourne has found a gear it doesn\u2019t appear North Melbourne has,\u201d Buckley added. <\/p>\n
Lots to work on, but they keep winning | 06:07<\/p>\n
1. INJURY SOURS WIN THAT BOOSTS TOP FOUR HOPES<\/p>\n
Melbourne may have secured the four points to keep their double chance hopes alive, but it\u2019s come at a cost.<\/p>\n
In the first term, Max Gawn sent a scare through the camp when he copped a knock.<\/p>\n
And in the second term, Kysaiah Pickett left the ground in worrying scenes after getting a nasty kick to the face.<\/p>\n
Luckily for the Dees, both players were able to shrug off those concerns \u2013 but that was the start of the woes.<\/p>\n
Defender Dan Turner copped a knock to his ribs in an accidental clash with a teammate in the second term.<\/p>\n
And while he was cleared to return after half time, a second hit in the third term saw Turner trudge off the field \u2013 before an ambulance was called for the defender.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have lost a player in Dan Turner,\u201d Ben Dixon reported at three quarter time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the first quarter he copped some friendly fire from a teammate \u2013 just cops that one to the left ribs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came from the ground, went into the rooms, was assessed and given the all clear to come back onto the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one (in the third), pretty innocuous but you can see there the left ribs once again troubling him.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Matt) Jefferson comes in, a little bit of friendly fire again.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, Turner was slow to exit the game. Vision from inside Melbourne\u2019s rooms showed the defender walking himself to the ambulance while surrounded by paramedics.<\/p>\n
Changkuoth Jiath then went down in the fourth quarter and was unable to return due to a lower leg issue.<\/p>\n
Dixon reported it\u2019s a suspected calf for the 2026 recruit.<\/p>\n
The Dees are already without fellow recruits Brody Mihocek due to his serious neck injury sustained early this year and Jai Culley (ACL).<\/p>\n
Follow our live coverage of North Melbourne vs Melbourne in our blog below! Can\u2019t see the blog?Click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne has overwhelmed North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Saturday to momentarily move into the top four, prevailing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":809110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-809109","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\/809109","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=809109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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