Colby McKercher is one of the brightest prospects from North Melbourne’s considerable stockpile of talented youngsters. Photo: AFL MEDIA

NORTH MELBOURNE
2024 record: 3 wins, 20 losses (17th)

THE INS
Luke Parker (Sydney), Caleb Daniel (Western Bulldogs), Jack Darling (West Coast), Jacob Konstanty (Sydney), Finn O’Sullivan (Oakleigh Chargers), Matt Whitlock (Murray Bushrangers), Luke Urquhart (East Fremantle), River Stevens (Geelong Falcons)

THE OUTS
Liam Shiels (retired), Hugh Greenwood (retired), Jaidyn Stephenson (retired), Tarryn Thomas (delisted), Curtis Taylor (delisted), Charlie Lazzaro (delisted), Blake Drury (delisted), Bigoa Nyuon (delisted), Tyler Sellers (delisted), Hamish Free (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
The good news for North Melbourne is that it looks like that there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel. Its midfield appears as though it’s on the verge of becoming one of the most exciting in the league as early as this year with the likes of Luke Davies-Uniacke, Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Colby McKercher and Bailey Scott rotating through there. The Kangaroos now have one of the AFL’s best ruckmen in Tristan Xerri who, along with Sheezel, was named in the All-Australian squad last year after catapulting his team up to fifth for hitouts. That on-ball group is only going to get better with the recent additions of draftees Finn O’Sullivan and Luke Urquhart. Such is the regard that Sheezel is already held in, he’s been named one of the club’s vice-captains, and it’s not hard to understand why. The kid is on track to become one of the best players in the game in the next few years. With the added experience of Luke Parker, Caleb Daniel and Jack Darling, six to eight wins should be the realistic aim in 2025. In Nick Larkey they have one of the best key forwards in the league, forward-cum-defender Charlie Comben was a revelation in defence last year and son of a gun Jackson Archer flourished down back as well. Paul Curtis has arrived as a gun small forward and with Larkey, Darling, Cam Zurhaar and Parker also in attack this year, North will be hoping it will kick a few more winning scores.

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THE WEAKNESSES
It was more of the same for North Melbourne last year as its worst era dragged on for another season. The Kangaroos became the first team in VFL/AFL history to lose 20 games in three consecutive seasons. They previously shared the record with Fitzroy, GWS and West Coast on two. To put that in perspective, only 19 times in 128 years of competition has a team lost 20 games in a single season, and North have recorded three of those campaigns in the last three years. That is an unprecedented level of sustained ineptness. To say it’s been a disastrous period for North Melbourne would be an understatement. They head into 2025 on the back of five bottom-two finishes in a row, including a pair of wooden spoons, with just 15 wins from their last 107 games. And exacerbating the situation has been severe instability at the top with six different coaches in the past six years. The legendary Alastair Clarkson was supposed to come on board and steady the ship, but even he had to step away for an extended period in 2023 to deal with the mounting stress of the Hawthorn racism saga. It’s just been one thing after another for the poor old Kangaroos and whichever way you dice it, 2024 was another trainwreck of a season. North had the 16th-ranked attack and the worst defence in the competition. As exciting as some of the names are in the Kangas’ midfield, they still have a long way to go after finishing last season 11th for clearances, 16th for contested possessions and 18th for inside 50s. The team didn’t fare much better in overall ball-getting capabilities, coming in 12th for both disposals and marks, and when they did get the pill, there wasn’t much to write home about as they were 16th for clangers and dead last for both turnovers and intercepts. One would think that with so little of the ball, the one thing that the Kangaroos could control was their pressure, yet even then they fell well short, ranking 13th for tackles and finishing 18th for tackles inside 50. But the latter stat is not surprising given the ball hardly ventured into their attacking zone. With such limited supply, it’s hardly shocking that the Roos were 17th for marks inside 50 and dead last again for scores per inside 50. And to cap it all off, North was also third-last in the league for contested marks. There are so many areas that need improving, Clarkson’s head must have been spinning all throughout the summer. While the rot has got to stop eventually, the Kangaroos still have the youngest and third-least experienced team in the league, so their long-suffering supporters can expect another substantial dose of pain this year.

ONE TO WATCH
Colby McKercher is the early clubhouse leader of North Melbourne’s 2023 crop and already looks like a future superstar. He has bucketloads of pace, skill and tenacity, and it was all on show in his debut season. Playing mainly in defence, he averaged 24 disposals, five rebound 50s and 414 metres gained and as he gradually gets more midfield minutes, his impact will be felt even more keenly by North.

UNDER THE PUMP
Eddie Ford’s effort cannot be questioned, but he often struggles with disposal and decision-making, especially in front of goal. Too often he misses gettable shots, and at crucial times as well. Granted, it’s not easy playing up forward at North, but with just 31 goals from 40 career games, Ford needs a big season in the final year of his contract.

BEST 23
B: Jackson Archer, Aidan Corr, Griffin Logue
HB: Caleb Daniel, Charlie Comben, Zac Fisher
C: Bailey Scott, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Colby McKercher
HF: Cameron Zurhaar, Brynn Teakle, Luke Parker
F: Paul Curtis, Nick Larkey, Jack Darling
R: Tristan Xerri, George Wardlaw, Harry Sheezel
Inter: Jy Simpkin, Tom Powell, Darcy Tucker, Luke McDonald, Zane Duursma
Emerg: Will Phillips, Dylan Stephens, Kallan Dawson

Parker’s flexibility as a midfielder who can go forward and kick goals will be very welcome, especially considering he booted three majors in a grand final in his last outing. Callum Coleman-Jones isn’t expected to be available until the middle of the year as he continues to recover from a troublesome Achilles injury suffered early last season. So for now, Brynn Teakle has taken Coleman-Jones’ spot in the forward line. Small forwards Robert Hansen and Ford are on the outer at the moment, as is swing man Toby Pink. Once Josh Goater fully recovers from his hamstring injury, he could become an asset.

*all team stat rankings mentioned are based on differentials, not totals (apart from overall offence and defence).