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BRAD Scott has slammed the North Melbourne supporters who gave forward Robbie Tarrant bronx cheers during the Kangaroos' 54-point win over the Western Bulldogs, labelling the treatment "embarrassing" and "ridiculous".
Tarrant had a quiet first half against the Bulldogs but received the ironic cheers after taking a mark in the third quarter. He went on to kick three final-term goals.
Scott was clearly furious and gave a spirited defence of the 23-year-old.
"Embarrassing from North Melbourne people," Scott said. ??
"It shouldn't happen at our club. [It's] just absolutely ridiculous. Those people want to take a good long hard look at themselves. ??
"I constantly say we've got the best supporters in the competition and I honestly believe that.
"But obviously a small percentage are letting us down with that sort of stuff. I go to games and I hear other supporters do that and I don't hear it from North Melbourne people. Let's hope it's the last time."
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Scott urged supporters to look at the forward line as a unit and not as individuals. Against the Bulldogs, key trio Tarrant, Drew Petrie (who went into the game with the flu) and Lachie Hansen combined for nine goals, a tally that pleased Scott.
"Hopefully North supporters are starting to realise that Tarrant and Hansen aren't going to kick six goals every week. But if we get nine goals from our key forwards, it's a great result," he said.
"The Bulldogs had a good structure against us early, we adapted to that, and I think the three of them worked really well together.
"You can't expect all of them individually to be kicking a bag of goals every week. You've got to judge them as a unit."??
Adapting is something the Kangaroos are getting used to. Scott thought his team took too long to adjust its tactics against the Western Bulldogs, but worked through it as the game wore on.
At times in the first-half it appeared the Kangaroos seemed to over-possess the ball, but after the main break they simplified things to kick 11 goals to five.
They did what they had to do, but also learned a few more things about their style.
"You can't go in with a game plan and just say 'We're going to roll it out' and hope the opposition don't counter it," Scott said.??
"You've got to be able to adapt and you've got to be able to assess each game on its merits. That was a good game for us today in terms of that. It's more good practice at getting that balance right."
The Roos' win pushed them to seventh on the ladder, leapfrogging fellow finals contender Essendon.
The Bombers face Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Sunday before meeting North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium next Sunday in a game that could go close to cementing the winner's spot in the top eight. ??
"We're looking forward to testing ourselves against the best and the last two or three months we've played some pretty good opposition ... this is just another test for us," Scott said.
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Callum Twomey is a reporter for the AFL website. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.
