If the disappointment of losing by a point to Geelong last weekend was a bitter pill for Kangaroos coach Brad Scott to swallow, the nature of his side’s seven goal loss to the Giants in Hobart was potentially worse.
Despite competing well for much of the game at Blundstone Arena, the Kangaroos are now 0-3 for 2017, lacked polish when it mattered and had ‘regressed’ since the Geelong loss, according to their coach.
“It’s frustrating because we did some things pretty well against a really good team but we just made some simple, fundamental errors, ball handling errors, fluffed opportunities that were there for the taking and then didn’t defend those turnovers well enough,” Scott said.
“It’s very hard to do anything about fundamental skill errors on game day, but clearly there is a fair bit we can do about it during the week and weeks to come.
“We regressed a little bit today in just our ball handling and cleanliness around the ball.”
The performance of third-game ruckman Braydon Preuss was one shining light for Scott, however, the 21-year-old man mountain another potential weapon in the Roos’ ruck stable based on his performance against GWS veteran Shane Mumford.
Preuss was able to contribute a couple of remarkable first-half goals and performed well around the ground, but Scott said there was work still to be done on the technical side of his game.
“We have to work out why we conceded so many centre bounce free kicks, because he was a bit miffed as to why and we couldn’t really give him an answer,” Scott said.
“We’ll work out that part of his technique.”
Given the form Preuss showed on Saturday, Majak Daw may find it hard to break back into the North side for the Good Friday clash against reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs, having been a late withdrawal after suffering concussion following a head-knock at training.
“We should have put ‘invented new way to get injured’,” Scott said.
“Maj has had a real bad run of luck. Had a head clash at training on Friday and was a bit groggy after that. Pulled up fine, but just not good enough to play.
“He’s been really unlucky. We just need to get some continuity into Maj, the raw ability is there.”
“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” he said.
“It’s going to be a great occasion not just for North Melbourne or the Bulldogs, but the AFL in general. It’s fantastic for the game to be able to look beyond what happens out on the field and look at the bigger picture of life.
“When you go to the Royal Children’s Hospital and have a look at the work that’s done in there it’s just fantastic that AFL footy and North Melbourne in particular can do something to raise awareness and hopefully a lot of money for a much-needed cause.”
