Swallow expects match review pain

North Melbourne captain Andrew Swallow hasn’t copped a spray yet but he’s sure it’s coming.

Their loss to Carlton certainly merits it.

For every defeat of a premiership contender – Sydney in round four, Fremantle in round six, Hawthorn a fortnight ago – there’s been a shocker from North Melbourne around the corner.

On Friday night it was the Blues that turned the tables on the Kangaroos in an upset 23-point win.

Now it seems his side’s inconsistent form has upset normally calm coach Brad Scott, and Swallow knows what to expect.

“Over the last couple of weeks he’s starting to get grumpier,” he told Channel 7.

“He likes to be very measured, he likes to go in with all the answers to give us, he doesn’t like to fly off the handle.

“He gave us the biggest spray we’ve probably ever received after the Brisbane game so I’m sure (Monday’s) going to be a fun day.”

Veteran Brent Harvey backed a new regime of tough love.

“I would have liked him to be harder on our group a little bit earlier,” he told SEN radio.

“I know coming in as a younger coach, he probably needed to nurture the boys a little bit.”

If an old-fashioned bollocking is what the Kangaroos need to stamp out inconsistency, now would be a good time to have it.

They face Geelong after their week off, a match which will go a long way to determining whether they can finish in the top four.

At 10-7 in the win-loss, time is running out for North Melbourne to show their premiership credentials.

But Swallow was clear the blame for their most recent loss sat with the players and not the coach.

“We sat back and didn’t get up into their face,” he said.

“Going into the game one of our big focuses was to get up and pressure and we didn’t execute that well.”

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