SEN’s Chief Sports reporter Sam Edmund has revealed there are serious questions being asked of those in charge at North Melbourne given their hapless start to the season.
The Roos sit second last, saved only by the COVID and injury crisis at West Coast, who their only win has come against.
Since defeating the Eagles, five of their last six defeats have come by more than 50 points and North Melbourne were again uncompetitive when going down by 13 goals against Fremantle on Friday night.
While David Noble’s side is going through a rebuild, Edmund revealed a startling statistic that suggests they should be far more advanced than where they currently are.
“No Nat Fyfe, no Matt Taberner, no Rory Lobb, no Griffin Logue, Blake Acres, Lloyd Meek, Michael Frederick, Travis Colyer, and yet last night, Fremantle are younger in terms of average age and less experienced in games played than North Melbourne,” he told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“If you’re a North Melbourne person that is (worrying).
“David Mundy was playing for Fremantle as well, so they’re a year younger on average and ten games less experienced on average, that is such a massive part of it if you’re North Melbourne.
“They’re 1-7, percentage of 55, enormous injury list, and it is so broken down there, it’s hard to know where to start.
“They can’t keep the ball they can’t defend the ball, the players from the outside looking in, don’t look invested, they don’t look interested, they’re clearly lacking confidence, some want out, we know that.”
On top of the dire night where Noble’s side kicked just 24 points, key defender Ben McKay went down with a serious-appearing knee injury.
Edmund described the 24-year-old’s injury as the “ultimate salting of the wound”, adding he could miss several weeks on the sidelines.
With North Melbourne entering the second year of the rebuild under Noble, the club appears to have taken a backward step to start 2022. The VFL side is also in significant strife, sitting 16th on the ladder of the 21 teams to showcase a failure across all levels at the club.
“The VFL side is coming off a 55-point loss, a 44-point loss, they’ve only got half a dozen AFL listed players running around in that competition,” Edmund continued.
“(The AFL side) sits second last at 1-7, and it’s not overstating things to say there are questions being asked of the entire club by people inside the club. That extends to the severity and the seriousness of, 'Are those in the positions of power the right people to be in the position of power?’
“It’s only Round 8 and you fear for the club at the moment because there are a myriad of problems.”
The Roos face a difficult run in the coming weeks, clashing with Port Adelaide and Melbourne before taking on St Kilda in Round 11.