quentinNorth Melbourne at the crossroads
March 26th 2007 03:48
Great article on Sportal (www.sportal.com.au) by PAUL GOUGH on AFL side North Melbourne's inherent problems...
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Kangas in the deep end
By Paul Gough
Sportal
It would be easy to feel sorry for Kangaroos' skipper Adam Simpson with the start of the 2007 AFL home and away season just days away.
Not only is the financial viability of his club constantly questioned, amidst constant speculation the team will eventually relocate to Queensland, but the Roos then lost their best forward Nathan Thompson during the pre-season to a serious knee injury that will sideline him for all of 2007.
And if that was not enough the club's greatest ever player Wayne Carey called on the club to get rid of coach Dean Laidley, saying he should be replaced by former club spearhead John Longmire, who is now an assistant coach at Sydney and who came close to being appointed senior coach of St Kilda before that job went to Ross Lyon.
Even before a ball has been bounced the Kangaroos are clear favourites to win the wooden spoon but if Simpson - one of just two survivors from the club's 1996 premiership side - is worried, he is doing a good job of hiding it.
When asked by Sportal if he was concerned at his side being rated the worst in the competition on the eve of the season he replied: "Not at all."
Simpson said overcoming the odds and playing with their 'backs to the wall' was part of life at a club that has never had the resources to compete with the game's richer clubs.
"We go better when we are underdogs anyway," he said.
Simpson said he was confident the Roos could overcome the loss of Thompson, even though he was the only player to kick more than 25 goals for the Roos last season as he helped himself to 54 for the season.
The Roos will not only go into the season without Thompson but also two of their other leading goalkickers from last season in another knee victim in Leigh Harding (22 goals) and the retired Sav Rocca (20 goals).
But Simpson said it was time for the Roos' young forwards to step up.
"On-field we will miss him (Thompson) but if it had been this time last year it would have been more of an issue, even though he is a big hole to fill."
"But we have drafted goalkickers, we drafted four of five last year."
"We needed small goalkickers and we drafted them in Lindsay Thomas and Matty Campbell and while you can't put too much expectation on them, they are going to add a new dimension to the side and then we've got Aaron Edwards as well."
Edwards, who played four games for the Eagles in 2005, joins the Roos after kicking more than 100 goals in the VFL last year and he will now have to assume the spearhead's role in the absence of Thompson.
But few players will go into the season under as much pressure as Edwards, who has also been implicated in the West Coast Eagles' drug scandal.
However Simpson is confident the 23-year-old is ready for the challenge.
"He has had a few games pre-season and we didn't want to throw him in the deep end but he hasn't got a choice now," Simpson said.
How Edwards performs in his new role at his new club will have a major bearing on the Roos' fortunes this year and while Simpson is confident his side won't be the easybeats of the competition this year, he fully realises the size of the task confronting his side in 2007.
"We didn't kick a lot of goals last year (the Roos' scored the least points in the competition in 2006) and it's true (we have got to replace three of our top goalkickers from last year) and we went to those blokes every time last year."
-----
Kangas in the deep end
By Paul Gough
Sportal
It would be easy to feel sorry for Kangaroos' skipper Adam Simpson with the start of the 2007 AFL home and away season just days away.
Not only is the financial viability of his club constantly questioned, amidst constant speculation the team will eventually relocate to Queensland, but the Roos then lost their best forward Nathan Thompson during the pre-season to a serious knee injury that will sideline him for all of 2007.
And if that was not enough the club's greatest ever player Wayne Carey called on the club to get rid of coach Dean Laidley, saying he should be replaced by former club spearhead John Longmire, who is now an assistant coach at Sydney and who came close to being appointed senior coach of St Kilda before that job went to Ross Lyon.
Even before a ball has been bounced the Kangaroos are clear favourites to win the wooden spoon but if Simpson - one of just two survivors from the club's 1996 premiership side - is worried, he is doing a good job of hiding it.
When asked by Sportal if he was concerned at his side being rated the worst in the competition on the eve of the season he replied: "Not at all."
Simpson said overcoming the odds and playing with their 'backs to the wall' was part of life at a club that has never had the resources to compete with the game's richer clubs.
"We go better when we are underdogs anyway," he said.
Simpson said he was confident the Roos could overcome the loss of Thompson, even though he was the only player to kick more than 25 goals for the Roos last season as he helped himself to 54 for the season.
The Roos will not only go into the season without Thompson but also two of their other leading goalkickers from last season in another knee victim in Leigh Harding (22 goals) and the retired Sav Rocca (20 goals).
But Simpson said it was time for the Roos' young forwards to step up.
"On-field we will miss him (Thompson) but if it had been this time last year it would have been more of an issue, even though he is a big hole to fill."
"But we have drafted goalkickers, we drafted four of five last year."
"We needed small goalkickers and we drafted them in Lindsay Thomas and Matty Campbell and while you can't put too much expectation on them, they are going to add a new dimension to the side and then we've got Aaron Edwards as well."
Edwards, who played four games for the Eagles in 2005, joins the Roos after kicking more than 100 goals in the VFL last year and he will now have to assume the spearhead's role in the absence of Thompson.
But few players will go into the season under as much pressure as Edwards, who has also been implicated in the West Coast Eagles' drug scandal.
However Simpson is confident the 23-year-old is ready for the challenge.
"He has had a few games pre-season and we didn't want to throw him in the deep end but he hasn't got a choice now," Simpson said.
How Edwards performs in his new role at his new club will have a major bearing on the Roos' fortunes this year and while Simpson is confident his side won't be the easybeats of the competition this year, he fully realises the size of the task confronting his side in 2007.
"We didn't kick a lot of goals last year (the Roos' scored the least points in the competition in 2006) and it's true (we have got to replace three of our top goalkickers from last year) and we went to those blokes every time last year."
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