Ben Dyer concedes that North Melbourne will need to hit the ground running against a determined Coburg Lions on Sunday afternoon.
Ahead of The Roos first away game of the season, the Senior Assistant Coach has admitted that a four-quarter effort will be crucial to picking up premiership points on the road.
“We’re looking to start a lot better than we have and be in the game in the early stages of it, which has been a little bit of an issue,” Dyer revealed to North Media.
“Maintaining our effort for the whole four quarters is going to be really important because we fluctuated a little bit in the last few weeks.
“We’re quite confident that if the effort levels are up for the entire duration of the game that we can go really well.”
Club favourite Leigh ‘Patch’ Adams will play the unfamiliar role of opposition as the 104-game veteran, alongside former North-listed player Tom Curran, look to guide the Lions to their first win of the season.
Having already played Coburg as part of its pre-season preparations, Dyer reveals that North will be expecting another hard-fought game on Sunday afternoon.
“Obviously under ‘Patch’ Adams they’re a little bit different to what they’ve been in previous years,” Dyer told North Media.
“One benefit of the pre-season was that we got to play them here at Arden St. We learnt a few things that day, perhaps about the way they’re going to play, so we’ve had a look at their last couple of games.
“They’re pretty good one-on-one, they’ve been in their games for a fair amount of time. Whenever you play Coburg it’s always a decent encounter, so we’re expecting something pretty similar.”
The Roos are hopeful that the rich early season form of creative forward Nick Larkey and defensive unit Daniel Nielson continues after a promising performance from both against Frankston last weekend.
Having gotten a taste of senior footy in 2017, Dyer heaped praise on the AFL-listed pair, who have been earmarked for their consistency in the royal blue and white.
“They’ve been terrific at both ends of the ground those two. They’ve just got to keep chipping away and improving,” he added.
“Daniel had a taste of AFL experience last year and he’s keen to get back and play some more AFL footy this year. Larks’ was no different and both have been tracking really well.
“For them, it’s both another opportunity to put their name in front of the selectors in weeks to come.”
Fans are invited to attend Sunday’s VFL match against Coburg at Piranha Park, with the first bounce at 1.00pm. The game will be live-streamed via the club website and App.
