A new term entered the footy lexicon on Wednesday with North Melbourne revealing their new ‘Northball’ game style in their practice match win over Collingwood.
Both ‘Bazball’ and ‘Angeball’ are now well-known terms in international cricket and in the English Premier League thanks to the unique styles those teams play with, and North Melbourne are now hoping to bring a unique approach to the way they go about things under Alastair Clarkson in 2024.
As revealed by young gun George Wardlaw, ‘Northball’ is about using their hands more, attacking through the corridor and putting more speed on the ball.
“We’re really confident with ‘Northball’. Our offence was really strong,” Wardlaw told reporters post-match.
“We used our hands, we challenged them, we used the corridor strongly, so I think that was really impressive.
“We kind of had a big focus on our offence as well as defence but we’ve kind of shifted the way we play.
“We’re liking the speed on the ball and as you saw out there (against Collingwood) it has been good for us so far.”
In response to Wardlaw and what he saw from the Kangaroos in the 34-point win, Kane Cornes thinks that North Melbourne fans will be pleased to see their side attack more in 2024 even if it means they’re leaky in defence.
“They're going to score heavily from centre bounce,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“They'll get opened up though, there’s no doubt about it, particularly if they move the ball fast through the corridor, which happened a couple of times early.
“But I reckon North fans can cop that, ‘Ok, we can see what we're trying to do. Not every time it'll work. If the opposition intercept the ball, they'll get us on the rebound’, which is what happened early.
“But I did like the attitude, and you want to go and watch that style of footy and it's not going to work every week.
“We're not overreacting the pre-season, but first up they were pretty good, so that’s the positive.”
Fans will get their second look at ‘Northball’ when the Kangaroos face St Kilda at RSEA Park on Sunday, March 3.
North Melbourne begin their 2024 season proper when they face GWS at GIANTS Stadium on Saturday, March 16.
