Brad Scott loves Jack Ziebell’s faultless AFL courage, but not the damaging consequences.
Ziebell was stretchered off Etihad Stadium with concussion on Saturday as the Kangaroos held off Richmond’s late charge to win their last NAB Challenge match by 14 points.
The Kangaroos vice-captain was sitting on the interchange bench by the end of the 3.13 15 (120) to 2.12 16 (106) win, and could well be available for their April 5 season opener at Adelaide Oval against the Crows.
But Scott revealed post-match he has spoken to Ziebell about his fearlessness.
Scott noted that Ziebell had also suffered two broken legs and a shoulder reconstruction in his 100-game senior career.
Earlier in the first half, Ziebell also briefly left the field with a jarred shoulder.
He then suffered high contact when he collided with Richmond defender Alex Rance late in the second term.
Ziebell’s head hit the ground, leaving him knocked out cold.
“I’ve spoken to him about certain things and we’ve trained certain things so he gets himself into a better position,” Scott said.
“Mostly for him it’s about instinct – he’s just an incredibly courageous, hard at the ball type player.
“I’d never want to do anything to take that part of his game away, but we’ll just work on techniques to enable him to protect himself a bit better.”
Ziebell’s injury aside, the match was the ideal way for the ‘Roos and Tigers to finalise their pre-season campaigns.
“(It was) exactly what we wanted – good opposition, playing pretty much their best side, who I thought gave us some really good competition,” Scott said.
“We got run into the players we wanted.”
Richmond were bleeding goals early and trailed by 38 points in the second term, but coach Damien Hardwick said they were not playing badly.
They rallied well in the last term and reduced the margin to 11 points before North closed out the match.
One obvious concern was how North opened up their defence early.
“But it didn’t feel like a 30-point game from our point of view – we were having shots at goal but we just weren’t capitalising,” Hardwick said.
“If you take the scoreboard out of it, a lot of our KPIs were ‘green’.”
Midfielder Daniel Wells and ruckman Todd Goldstein starred for the ‘Roos, while Western Bulldogs recruit Shaun Higgins and Lindsay Thomas kicked three goals apiece.
Richmond captain Trent Cotchin, back from a hamstring injury, was high among their best.
The Tigers play the blockbuster season opener against arch-rivals Carlton at the MCG on April 2.
North and Richmond were close to full strength on Saturday and Hardwick said he had several selection headaches.
One obvious decision is whether to play key forwards Ben Griffiths and Ty Vickery in the same side.
Likewise, Mason Wood pressed his claims for a spot in North’s side with two goals.
