North Melbourne suffered another massive setback on Monday when vice-captain Jack Ziebell was hit with a three-match AFL ban for rough conduct.
Sunday’s one-point loss to Adelaide at Etihad Stadium – North’s fourth defeat by less than a goal this season and second in two weeks – led coach Brad Scott to question his players’ mental strength.
The players met for more than two hours on Monday to thrash out how they had let a five-goal lead slip in the last quarter against Adelaide.
And things just got worse on Monday afternoon as the AFL’s match review panel announced 22-year-old Ziebell had been offered a three-game suspension.
Ziebell’s rough-conduct charge following his bump on Adelaide’s Jarryd Lyons drew a 225-point penalty.
But the in-form midfielder’s poor tribunal record of seven matches missed through suspension in the past two years boosted his demerit points by 50 per cent to 337.50 and a three-match sanction.
The Wodonga product also has 67.50 points carried over from his clash with Carlton’s Aaron Joseph in 2012, increasing the penalty to 405 points and a four-match ban, which can be cut by 25 per cent to 303.75 points with an early guilty plea.
North are fading fast as finals contenders with three wins from nine rounds to be in 13th spot after finishing eighth in 2012.
Scott’s men face 15th-placed St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Sunday followed by matches against 12th-placed Gold Coast in round 11 and top-four heavyweights Fremantle in round 13 after a bye.
Kangaroos skipper Andrew Swallow believes the problems which are leading to narrow losses can be fixed.
Scott labelled Sunday’s performance diabolical.
However, Swallow said the players were confident they could solve their issues by showing cooler heads under pressure.
“Everyone was crystal clear on the things that we need to go out and work on and they’re really fixable,” Swallow said on Monday.
Asked whether the players were mentally weak, Swallow said: “I suppose, on all evidence, that’s what it seems.”
He said North were not responding when they should be at critical times in a match.
“The (opposition) teams are obviously taking some risks and some gambles and they’re paying off and we’re not standing up when they’re doing it,” he said.
“There are times when we need to be a bit more considered with our approach.
“We seem to go away from what we have done and, whether that’s blokes just switching off, it’s a hard one to explain.”
Triple club champion Swallow, 25, said the Kangaroos needed the more-experienced players to lead the way.
“There are certain key things which are letting us down — and it starts from the top down,” Swallow said.
“The older guys are the ones who’ve got to take responsibility for it.
“It (the team meeting) was longer than normal but we needed it.
“There was a lot to go through from the game and we needed to see it.”
