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AFL 2025: David King analyses North Melbourne 101-point loss to Geelong Cats, failed draft gamble, Alastair Clarkson press conference
AFL 2025: David King analyses North Melbourne 101-point loss to Geelong Cats, failed draft gamble, Alastair Clarkson press conference

Courier-Mail

time3 days ago

  • Sport
  • Courier-Mail

AFL 2025: David King analyses North Melbourne 101-point loss to Geelong Cats, failed draft gamble, Alastair Clarkson press conference

Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News. Questions continue to be asked of North Melbourne's on-field identity after a 'sickening' 101-point loss to Geelong on Saturday night amid more evidence of a failed draft gamble. The Kangaroos finished a staggering -41 for inside-50s, -10 for clearances, -16 for contested possessions, and -18 for marks inside 50 on a night they couldn't come close to halving the territory battle nor begin to contain the Cats' purring forward line, with superstar Jeremy Cameron running riot for 11 majors. It was North Melbourne's 14th-straight defeat at the hands of Geelong and its fifth-straight loss as it remains with a measly four wins to its name for the season. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. 'For North Melbourne fans, that would've been a sickening watch; incredibly frustrating. You feel sorry for the Kangaroos fans, who have watched this for six years,' the Herald Sun's Jay Clark told Fox Footy's Super Saturday Live post-match coverage. X Learn More SUBSCRIBER ONLY Dual All-Australian and two-time Kangaroos premiership player David King pondered the machinations of the club's game plan and lamented its inability to adequately defend. 'This (the North Melbourne rooms) would be an awful place to be, at the moment. It's a tough one, because when you watch them play, it's kind of difficult to work out what they're trying to execute,' he began. Questions are being asked of North Melbourne after the 101-point loss (Photo by) 'Are they handballing when the options are available, and then run and gun? Or is it take territory and get numbers to drop of ball? Is it a mix of both? I don't know what they're doing defensively; that's just not working at all — 40 (Geelong) scores tonight.' The Cats scored 27 times from 58 intercepts on Saturday night, exemplifying the ease of which they were able to transition and punish the Roos on the counter. 'They just smashed them; they walked through them. The amount of times Jeremy Cameron was out the back by himself, and it'd be uncontested possession, uncontested possession, goal,' King continued. 'I'd love to ask Alastair Clarkson 'what are you trying to achieve?' Show us what it should look like, and then we can at least enjoy the ride. Because we just go from week to week and not see it. We have seen it in patches throughout the year, but we're not seeing it now. 'I know the ruckman's (Tristan Xerri) not there, I know Nick Larkey's not there, but that shouldn't have as big an effect as what it does on their ability to stop the opposition moving the ball full length of the ground.' X Learn More SUBSCRIBER ONLY Patrick Dangerfield was tactically substituted out of the game, his 200th for Geelong, and the sight of the veteran sitting on the bench munching on a kebab while the game was still going on would have rubbed salt into the wound for North fans. Patrick Dangerfield eats a kebab after getting subbed out. Photo: Fox Footy. Serious questions continue to be asked of the Roos' direction under Alastair Clarkson in the third year of the four-time premiership coach's reign, with the club benefitting from top picks for the better part of the past six years. In 55 games under Clarkson, North Melbourne is 10-44-1. The club has finished 17th on the ladder in consecutive seasons and currently sits 17th with four games left to go this season. Asked when the pressure on Clarkson genuinely gets turned up, King answered: 'It's a great question; it's hard to answer. I think you have a blind faith in the club that the decision-makers will get it right. 'Words are cheap; it's really hard to just listen to the same conversation over and over and over. It's a tough place to be, there's no doubt about that ... third year in, a penny for his thoughts, is he able to do what he once thought he could do with this group? Are there any doubts there? 'You walk off the ground tonight, you have to doubt your own plan. You've got (Jack) Darling, (Luke) Parker and (Caleb) Daniel to the club to try and stiffen up with a bit of seniority; that doesn't look like it's working as well as it probably should.' X Learn More SUBSCRIBER ONLY North Melbourne fielded eight former top-12 draft picks against Geelong, as King declared the club's issues didn't revolve around an absence of talented players. 'It's not a talent issue; it's a system problem,' he said. 'You can be really brutal and say 'it's coaching', right, but it's also performance of that system. 'Where's the disconnect? Are the players not understanding? Are they not prepared to work hard enough to ensure the system works? I think they're good enough, and I don't think they're that young that they can't compete defensively. That's not really a talent issue. 'I'm the same as all those people in the room and all those watching on, I don't understand the system, because I see so many flaws in it, so many holes in it. 'I don't see it; it's not consistent enough to say 'this is their identifiable brand'. And I think when you see 150 points against, I think even they'd say 'you wouldn't be able to see it tonight'.' X Learn More SUBSCRIBER ONLY Speaking post-game on Saturday night, Clarkson, who lamented glaringly obvious deficiencies in contest, clearance and territory, made it a point to highlight the discrepancy in experience between the sides. 'The Geelong forward line versus the North Melbourne backline, just see the void that sits there in terms of just experience and exposure,' he said. 'And I don't want to make excuses for our players, but it's where we're at, though. 'And we're giving these young players some exposure and opportunity, and in our back end in particular, we're going to be left very, very vulnerable down there against a formidable forward line if we couldn't control the middle of the ground as well as we'd like. And Geelong was too good in that space.' X Learn More SUBSCRIBER ONLY The Roos fielded the second-youngest team in the competition in Round 20, with eight-game key defender Wil Dawson among those in royal blue and white tortured by Cameron and the Cats, who licked their lips each time they entered forward 50. 'Everyone will look at win-loss and all that sort of stuff, and making progress — and even if it is just win-loss, we have made some progress,' said Clarkson in his press conference. 'But we've had three performances that were well below our best, which (were) the Carlton game in Round 6 here, the Hawthorn game about a month ago down in Tassie, and tonight. 'But outside of that, we've been much more competitive than what we were last year, winning more quarters and being in more games at three-quarter-time than we had last year.' X Learn More SUBSCRIBER ONLY But while Clarkson continues to preach that non-linear progress continues to be made at Arden Street, the Roos' list management's choice to trade away the club's first-round pick this year has come back to bite hard. Last November, North Melbourne — banking on a significant uptick this season — traded its future first-round pick to Richmond to secure the No.27 selection, key-position utility Matt Whitlock, who has played just one senior game in his debut season. That future choice is currently slated to wind up as the second overall pick. Injecting young talent isn't as urgent for the Roos as it has been in previous seasons, but given the stagnancy of this season, it's premium draft capital they'd absolutely love to have this off-season. 'I think they thought they would be further progressed, because they did trade that pick away,' Clark said on Fox Footy. 'Would they have traded that No.2 pick away if they thought they were going to finish second-last on the ladder? No way. They thought they would be up the ladder; they thought they would improve, that's why they gave that pick away. 'So, it tells you that they thought they would be better than they're at; that's really clear.' The Roos are currently slated to make their first draft choice this November at No.20, holding a pair of picks at the top of the second round. Originally published as Roos' identity crisis amid Clarko question as 'sickening' loss lays bare failed draft trade gamble

‘Hard to comprehend': Footy world crushed by Adam Selwood's death
‘Hard to comprehend': Footy world crushed by Adam Selwood's death

News.com.au

time17-05-2025

  • Sport
  • News.com.au

‘Hard to comprehend': Footy world crushed by Adam Selwood's death

A devastated footy world has reacted with shock and sadness after the tragic death of Adam Selwood on Saturday. Just three months after the funeral for his twin brother Troy, 41-year-old Adam's death has led to a fresh outpouring of grief as the AFL fraternity's heart broke yet again for the Selwood family. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. Just after midday AEST on Saturday, Adam's wife Fiona and the Selwood family confirmed the crushing news in a statement released via the AFL. Barely an hour later, Collingwood's clash with Adelaide commenced at the MCG as football tried to find a way to carry on under the weight of an enormous burden. A father to two young children and the forwards coach with the Magpies, Adam's colleagues at Collingwood and the greater AFL landscape were struggling to comprehend the news. Watch Craig McRae's interview in the video player above Fox Footy did its best to report on the news at halftime of the Collingwood match. 'This is devastating, the football world is in mourning today with the news former West Coast Eagle Adam Selwood has passed away in Perth today,' Herald Sun reporter Jay Clark began. 'It's hard to comprehend the pain really his family would be feeling this morning after the death of his twin brother Troy only three months ago in February. 'He's being remembered today as an incredibly selfless footballer, tough and courageous, disciplined, so team orientated in his tagging roles. 'He did it for the team and above all, just an incredibly popular teammate. He's going to be sorely missed.' The 53rd pick in the 2002 AFL Draft, Selwood played 187 games for West Coast, including the 2006 premiership, and also represented Australia in the International Rules series before moving into a variety of AFL and AFLW roles. Players from Geelong and the GWS Giants are among those wearing black armbands for their matches on Saturday, while the Eagles will hold a tribute to Selwood at Sunday's match against St Kilda. Cameron Mooney, a close friend of the Selwood family who won two premierships alongside Joel Selwood with the Cats, struggled with his emotions in his boundary rider role at the MCG. 'Look obviously found out the news this morning, along with yourselves,' Mooney said with his voice breaking. 'It's a family I've known for nearly 20 years and a family that I've grown very fond of over the years and love. 'So to hear the news this morning, yeah absolutely tragic, and it was only three months ago that we buried Troy. 'Obviously just want to send all my condolences and love to a family that I absolutely love and adore and to a teammate (in Joel) I got to play alongside with in a couple of premierships and just let you know that we're all thinking of you guys and we love you and all the best.' Mooney then interviewed Pies coach Craig McRae following their 10-point win over the Crows. A clearly emotional McRae said 'there's a lot going on' before managing to answer questions about the game and the performance of some of his players. When Mooney asked McRae about Collingwood being 'a big family club', it got too much for the premiership-winning coach, who managed to utter a few more words before he had to cut the interview short, walking away with tears in his eyes. In such a competitive environment, AFL clubs across the lands took to social media to express their support for the Selwood family. Geelong's official account tweeted: 'The Geelong Football Club is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Adam Selwood. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Fiona, children Lenny and Billie, brothers Joel and Scott and parents Maree and Bryce, our thoughts are with you at this time.' The Western Bulldogs wrote on X: 'Vale Adam Selwood. The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Fiona and the Selwood family at this devastating time. We extend our deepest condolences to all who knew him.' West Coast said: 'We are mourning the heartbreaking loss of 2006 premiership player Adam Selwood. Our deepest sympathies are with the Selwood family, his teammates and loved ones.' GWS offered: 'The Giants will wear black armbands this afternoon in honour of Adam Selwood. Our deepest condolences are with the Selwood family, his former teammates and all those who knew him.' Many others were trying to find the words to summarise how they were feeling. Rhett Bartlett, a Richmond historian and son of Tigers legend Kevin, tweeted: 'Simply too sad for words. Farewell Adam Selwood.' 3AW's Neil Mitchell offered: 'A second Selwood brother dead. So tragic and such a decent family. So, so sad.' Channel 7 Perth reporter Ryan Daniels wrote: 'Don't have the words to write about Adam Selwood. Heartbreaking. 3 months after his twin, his best mate, Troy. Awful, awful.' Broadcaster Glenn Mitchell said: 'At a loss for words. Thoughts with the Selwood family at a time of unfathomable grief.' A West Coast fan and former podcaster who will attend Sunday's game wrote: 'Eagles fans, please join us tomorrow for a minute of applause in memory of Adam Selwood. Third quarter, seventh minute, for our #37.'

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