David King has pinpointed the middle bracket of North Melbourne's list which would be giving new coach David Noble the biggest headache.
The Roos were smashed by Western Bulldogs by a whopping 128 points on Good Friday, with the Dogs kicking 10 goals in the final term.
The fall out to the demoralising defeat has been fierce, but Noble pleaded with fans post-game to stay patient as the club embarks on a radical rebuild.
King said he was particularly concerned about the club’s final quarter surrender, while also laying the blame largely on North Melbourne’s middle tier of players.
“I suggest all North Melbourne fans listen to David Noble’s post-match press conference to get a handle of where he sees them going and the timeframes,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“I think the disappointing part for me is just the last quarter and conceding so heavily, they looked meek in the midfield – in the centre bounce was Ben Cunnington, Jy Simpkin and Todd Goldstein. These are good players so that was disappointing.
“Clearly there’s a lack of talent in that group, I still think the younger players performed admirable and I think some of the senior players worked their guts out, but that middle bracket player should be performing far better than they are.
“This is where integrity of selection needs to come back into vogue, you can’t just pick someone because they’re a mature body and have played a bit of footy.
“They’ll be players who will be nervous this week and I think some statements will have to be made, you just can’t accept that sort of things, whether it’s the second week in the row or it’s just the first.
“What does that do at the end of the year? As the coach said, the consequences will be that they’re off the list and that’s the reality of footy, you can’t keep rolling with the same problems and expect a different result.”
North Melbourne will be looking to bounce back against Adelaide on Sunday at Marvel Stadium, as they eye their first win of 2021.