North Melbourne’s AFL fixture has turned nasty and coach Brad Scott loves it.
An extremely favourable draw eased the Kangaroos’ path to last year’s finals.
They’ll have it much tougher this season, facing four of their fellow 2012 finalists – Hawthorn, Adelaide, Collingwood and Geelong – twice during a home and away campaign which begins with three difficult matches.
The degree of difficulty is even higher early given five-time best and fairest Brent Harvey will miss the first six rounds through suspension.
But Scott is embracing the challenge and wants his players to do likewise.
“I welcome the fixture,” Scott said.
“We want to be a side that can play sustainably good football against any opposition at any venue and we are not that right now.
“What we did last year is prove that at our best we can beat pretty close to the best, but we didn’t do it consistently.”
The Roos stormed home in the second half of the 2012 season, winning 10 of their last 12 home and away matches.
But the season came to a screeching halt when West Coast handed them a 96-point hiding in an elimination final.
Scott says that loss has given the club a harder resolve.
The gains of last year and the wins against Adelaide, Collingwood, Geelong and St Kilda – sides that have tormented the Roos in recent years – have created more self-belief in the maturing list but Scott believes the club has “miles to go”.
And that excites him.
There’s a big group of players Scott hopes will give his club “organic growth”, headed by Jack Ziebell, Shaun Atley, Ryan Bastinac and Ben Cunnington.
“We want to make sure we coach players to be elite level players who can stand up under duress,” said Scott.
“They are young but they’re developing and getting better.
“Try telling Jack Ziebell to wait until he is 25 to become a really good player.
“That is what we want, players saying `I’m not waiting, I am attacking the competition’.”
The Roos are blessed with key forwards and can now rotate plenty of players through their midfield, but could again struggle with their lack of backline height.
Scott Thompson had a superb season last year and the brittle Nathan Grima is a key player, while Atley showed dash. But defensive depth is an issue.
The Roos did not look to bolster their list with free agents over the summer, instead drafting 24-year-old ruckman Daniel Currie, from Sydney via North Adelaide and Ben Jacobs (Port Adelaide), after trading in Jordan Gysberts (Melbourne).
Currie has shown enough in the pre-season to suggest he will challenge Todd Goldstein for the No.1 ruck position.
The Roos shed some experience. Hamish McIntosh and Aaron Edwards were traded, while Ben Warren and Matt Campbell were delisted.
They’ve also elevated Majak Daw, the exciting if raw ruck-forward.
Yet to make his senior debut, the Sudanese-born Daw has been constantly in the spotlight, which Scott believes will hold him in good stead.
“He thrives under pressure,” said Scott.
“If it was another player I would be really worried about how it would affect him.
“We have had to do an enormous amount of work to keep him grounded because people want to talk to him, the fans love him, he is exciting to watch.”
Thriving under pressure could be a handy trait for all Kangaroos this year.
