It has been an indifferent start to season 2022 for North Melbourne.
David Noble’s Kangaroos lost to Hawthorn by 20 points in Round 1 before claiming victory over an undermanned West Coast by 15 points in Round 2.
Last weekend, they copped an almighty hiding at the hands of Brisbane, going down by a massive 108 points at the Gabba which was their heaviest defeat since Round 3 last year (128 points to the Bulldogs).
Noble did not mince his words regarding the team’s subpar performance, saying the club “should be embarrassed” for what they dished up.
It prompted Sportsday’s Sam McClure to ask Leigh Matthews his thoughts on the situation.
“Can I ask you about David Noble, who you know really well, and North Melbourne who were obviously abysmal on the weekend,” he said.
“I think it’s the second time that the footy club has now branded one of their performances as embarrassing.
“Where to from here for North?”
While a rebuilding team can at times be excused for such poor performances, Matthews took aim at some of North’s players who he believes may lack “competitive spirit”.
The eight-time premiership winner says the Roos must draw the line between those who want to fight for the club and those who aren’t as heavily invested.
“It’s a long battle,” Matthews said.
“Collingwood, for instance, finished second last last year but they’d gone fourth, eighth and 17th. So they’ve had one year right down the bottom and they’ve bounced back up to be competitive again.
“North have now been stuck down the bottom for a few years. At the moment it’s kind of like hard yakka.
“They were terrible on Saturday night. The Lions can kick big scores if the opposition is not quite on and North weren’t.
“To be honest, there’s no golden bullet, but I reckon you’ve got to prioritise the players who show the competitive spirit that you’re looking for.
“Therefore you’ve got to persevere with them and you’ve got to think about discarding the ones who don’t show that competitive spirit.
“They might be good players in some ways, but if they haven’t got that desperate, competitive spirit, you’ve got to leave them behind.”
It gets no easier for the Kangas this weekend as they travel to Sydney to take on the Swans at the SCG on Saturday afternoon.