Champion Data: The Kangaroo ranking amongst the superstars

Despite mounting their highest win tally since 2019, the question remained; has North Melbourne improved this season?

According to Champion Data, they have, quite drastically.

Following a huge win over the Western Bulldogs in Round 22, the Kangaroos’ win tally extended to nine on the season, although before their almighty scalp, North was yet to knock off a top 10 team at the time of their matchup.

Barring the Blues, who they knocked off amid their struggles under Michael Voss, North Melbourne had beaten West Coast twice, Richmond twice, Essendon twice, and Gold Coast once, failing to beat a finals contender across the year.

However, having secured a crucial 23-point win over the Dogs, Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne decided to dig through their data for the season.

And it reads far prettier than previous years.

“I thought I’d talk about the Kangaroos heading into the game against the Dogs,” Hoyne told SEN Sportsday.

“Have they improved? Is Alastair Clarkson doing a good job?

“I think if you’re a North Melbourne supporter and you’re reviewing this year, what you have been able to do offensively in the ball movement game in particular is a massive, massive improvement on where you’ve been in previous campaigns.

“That’s something that should give you confidence moving forward. Yes, defensively there’s still a lot to work on, and that’s understandable, but you’ve got to nine wins. Who knows what happens this Saturday against Geelong.

“The intercept game is king. 60 per cent of your score comes off the back of your ability to intercept the footy off the opposition and go back at them.

“They are top six in the competition in that aspect of the game, offensively, against the best.

“Against the best, when they win the footy back across the half back area, they are the second-best team in the competition at getting it on the scoreboard.

“Only Fremantle have been more damaging than them across that half back area. Yes, they are getting hurt back the other way, but this is something that North Melbourne under Clarko haven’t had in their game before.

“They’ve had to be a team that’s relied on winning clearance and winning contest off the back of Tristan Xerri and that midfield group.

“But the reality is, against the best teams in the competition, they are going to be able to hold up in that aspect of the game. So how are you going to get that job done?

“This is the most important aspect of their game, so that is a tick.”

Beyond structure, two talented Roos have lifted their game drastically this season, both rating incredibly highly over the course of this season.

“The other component of what’s going on at the moment, and clearly, he had a blinder on the weekend, that being Luke Davies-Uniacke,” Hoyne continued.

“He is the third highest rated player in the competition over the last two months of the season.

“Taking his raw game to the side - it was phenomenal on the weekend – the interesting thing that stood out, late in that game, when he took that mark inside forward 50.

“I haven’t seen that from LDU before. That was just the eleventh time for the year he has been targeted inside forward 50.

“He has only been isolated in a one-on-one contest twice for the season – he has won both of those contests.

“Isaac Heeney plays his midfield role where he is able to get his midfield matchup inside forward 50, isolate it, and his one-on-one numbers are the best in the competition because he gets the mismatch.

“We’ve seen Josh Fraser over the last couple of months being able to do something similar with Patrick Cripps. He’s been able to get him inside forward 50, using him slightly more as a target because he has the mismatch.

“I just wonder whether or not this is something that they are going to look at. There is a moment in that last quarter that we just spoke about where you think, maybe this is something that they can evolve into this guy’s game next year.

“If George Wardlaw is able to stand up, Harry Sheezel is there, Jy Simpkin can run through, let Finn O’Sullivan go, then all of a sudden, they can use LDU as this weapon that some of the best midfielders in the competition are doing.

“Then, clearly, everyone was in excitement with what we saw from George Wardlaw.

“There are the two rating systems we’ve got. We’ve got the overall rating system, and the impact rating system, which takes into account how much game time you’re actually playing, and when you’re on the ground, how much impact do you have.

“We understand that George only plays 50 per cent of game time. He’s not going to rate as highly as those that are playing 80 to 90 to 100 per cent - in saying that he is still rating extremely well.

“When he is on the ground, he is almost a top 10 player in the competition for the impact that he has on matches.

“I understand that they’ve got a lot of work to do defensively, but there are signs that things are starting to go okay.”

The season isn’t yet over for the Kangaroos, with Geelong and Sydney to come in the final two rounds.

If they can pull off back-to-back upsets, Carlton lose their last two and both of St Kilda and GWS lose at least once, North Melbourne could find themselves in a Wildcard final.