North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw concedes "it possibly was the wrong call” to play star midfielder Ben Cunnington in Saturday night’s loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Cunnington was in doubt for the Bulldogs match with a back problem after being a late out for the Kangaroos’ last two games against Hawthorn and Sydney.
The 29-year-old was passed fit to play but copped a knock to his troublesome back early in the opening term and was later ruled out for the remainder of the contest at three-quarter time.
"He (Cunnington) copped a knock early and then it just didn't get any better. He wasn't giving us anything from then on in, so it's really disappointing," Shaw told reporters post-game.
“He’s had that issue (with his back) coming in and it just didn’t get any better.
"He was in doubt all week, as we stated early in the week, and he got up and we were confident and I made a decision to play him, so that's where it sits.
"It possibly was the wrong call but we were really confident, to be honest, on all the evidence we were given.
“We were happy to play him and I was really confident with the way he was going and he warmed up really well, so it's just what it is."
North slumped to their three straight loss after going down to the Dogs by 49 points. They sit 2-3 after the opening five rounds.
“It possibly was the wrong call.”
— 7AFL (@7AFL) July 4, 2020
Rhyce Shaw on Ben Cunnington.#AFLDogsNorth pic.twitter.com/38ZcIKy5Vy