North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel admits he and his teammates need to hold each other to higher standards after the Kangaroos’ Round 2 loss to Fremantle that included a six-goal swing in the third term.
The Roos were more than five goals up midway through the second quarter and entered half-time 17 points leaders and a strong chance of causing an upset to kickstart their season.
Sheezel pointed to an aggressive mindset with ball in hand and strict defending as keys behind North Melbourne’s game plan.
“We took away their uncontested marks, which was the focus going in,” he told SEN Breakfast on Monday.
But it all fell apart after the main break as Fremantle seized a match-wining lead on the back of a dominant third quarter.
The Dockers kicked 9.8 (62) to North Melbourne’s solitary point in a little over a quarter, going inside 50 on 14 more occasions with 77 per cent efficiency.
“That third quarter just wasn’t up to the standard,” Sheezel explained.
“We let them control the game. We had some moments that we’re not proud of, me personally as well, I had some moments I wasn’t proud of.
“But we’re going to review it hard I’m sure, and hold each other to high standards.”
Sheezel also took responsibility for his mistakes.
“In that third quarter it wasn’t really with the ball – I had one mistake with the ball – but there were a couple of instances where I was too reactive on my bloke and they got a couple metres separation and that’s too much in the modern game,” Sheezel explained.
“There was one at the stoppage where we tried to bookend the players and no one wrapped through and it looked like I was just standing there… (with) Andrew Brayshaw’s goal.
“So I was waiting for Michael Walters to wrap through, he didn’t come and I was too focused on that while Brayshaw was right there.”
He added: “The backline does have a lot of leaders. We think we’re pretty good at (reviewing after every goal), we feel like we were all playing our roles and tough and tenacious in the contest but they got midfield ascendancy as well and just controlled the game.”
Alastair Clarkson’s Roos competed strongly against GWS for much of Round 1 and despite going down to Fremantle, their performances have fans optimistic for what’s to come.
Clarkson himself was positive after the loss despite the massive swing, according to Sheezel.
“As a group after the game, he was still pretty optimistic about that first half,” Sheezel noted of his coach.
“It will be interesting today (Monday) to see the approach that we take (in review), whether we focus a lot on that third quarter or what went well and what we take from that into Carlton on a six-day turnaround in a really important game for our club on the big stage to turn it around.”
Sheezel, who has already been elevated into North Melbourne’s leadership group in just his second season, finished Saturday’s game as his side’s best player with 35 disposals and 527 metres gained.
A marquee fixture for Clarkson’s side awaits on Friday afternoon against Carlton, with Marvel Stadium to play host from 4:20pm AEDT.