2011 snapshot
Ladder position: 9th; 10W, 12L
Leading goalkicker: Drew Petrie (48)
Leading possession winner: Andrew Swallow (562)
Played every game: Brent Harvey, Brady Rawlings, Swallow, Scott Thompson
Debutants: Shaun Atley (16 games), Aaron Black (1), Luke Delaney (8), Kieran Harper (14), Aaron Mullett (3), Cameron Pedersen (14), Cameron Richardson (8)

Stats leaders
Toyota AFL Dream Team: Swallow (2186)
Kicks: Daniel Wells (312)
Handballs: Swallow (294)
Marks: Drew Petrie (129)
Hit-outs: Todd Goldstein (741)
Clearances: Swallow (148)
Contested possessions: Swallow (302)
Uncontested possessions: Brady Rawlings (324)

NAB AFL Rising Star nominees
None

List manager
Poor skill execution was the Kangaroos' Achilles heel in 2011, so expect them to target elite ball-users to bolster their midfield and half-back line in the trade and draft periods. North may also look for a quick small forward it can develop to support Lindsay Thomas and Matt Campbell, while it could use another quality key-position player.

Games that shaped a season
Rd 8: North Melbourne 19.10 (124) d Melbourne 12.11 (83)
North seems to set itself for games against Melbourne given both have relatively young lists. The Kangaroos had won just one game to this point of the season, while Melbourne sat seventh on the ladder, but they turned a seven-point half-time deficit into a dominant win.

Rd 13: North Melbourne 17.9 (111) d Essendon 12.18 (90)
As North's only win against a top-eight team, this victory was perhaps its most impressive of 2011. Having led from the opening bounce, North fell behind for the first time early in the final quarter. However, the Kangaroos rallied to kick the final four goals and clinch a memorable victory.

Rd 15: St Kilda 12.7 (79) d North Melbourne 10.10 (70)
Having been defeated by a combined margin of 156 points in its two games against St Kilda in 2010, North led by 10 points early in the second quarter of this clash. However, two periods would cost it dearly. The 10 minutes before half-time when the Saints scored five unanswered goals and the final quarter when North kept the Saints scoreless but kicked 1.4 and put two other shots out of bounds on the full. Still, North's effort underlined its improvement.

Rd 17: North Melbourne 21.16 (142) d Western Bulldogs 17.9 (111)
A week after a 117-point loss to Collingwood, North's pride shown through. Two goals down at quarter-time, an eight-goal-to-two second term put the Kangaroos 27 points up at half-time. The Bulldogs had cut that to five points by three-quarter time, but North rattled on another eight goals in the final quarter to run away in the end. After being labelled unfit at the start of 2011, Jack Ziebell came of age with 41 possessions.  

Rd 23: St Kilda 19.21 (135) d North Melbourne 10.10 (70)
North went into this game on the back of a 98-point thumping of Fremantle that had kept its finals hopes alive, and with some confidence from its narrow loss to the Saints in round 15. That confidence seemed well placed when North led by 20 points with little more than seven minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Saints then showed North has some way to go to match it with the competition's best teams, piling on 15 of the last 18 goals to effectively end its season.   

What went right
North's players developed at all levels. Senior Kangaroos Petrie and Wells returned to full fitness and had career-best seasons. Emerging players Goldstein and Ziebell (particularly in the second half of the season) stamped themselves as key players in North's midfield.

The Kangaroos were also able to blood seven debutants, ranging from highly touted draft picks Atley and Harper to mature-age rookies Pedersen, Luke Delaney and Richardson. North also showed heart to fight back from a dismal start to the season to challenge strongly for a finals spot.

What went wrong
Things went wrong early for North. Its pre-season was cursed by injury, with Hamish McIntosh, Nathan Grima, Ryan Bastinac and Levi Greenwood all suffering injuries that ruled them out of sizeable chunks of the season.

North's opening draw also did it no favours. In its first three games, it travelled to Perth twice and played the reigning premier, Collingwood, losing all three on its way to a 2-7 record after the first 10 rounds. It was an uphill battle for North to make the finals from there, one it was not up to. Again, it struggled against the competition's best sides, beating just one team that finished in the top eight, Essendon in round 13.  And, again, its skills let it down too often.

Critical moment
In round 10, North looked like it was about to run over the top of the Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium. It hit the front midway through the last quarter and seemed to have all the momentum. However, the Swans reclaimed a one-point lead when Ben McGlynn goaled at the 22-minute mark. And, despite doing all the attacking in the final five minutes, the Kangaroos could not score. It was reflective of North's season - full of grit and endeavour, but short on polish, especially at critical moments.

Most valuable player
After foot injuries restricted him to just two games in 2010, Drew Petrie made a stunning return in 2011. Played as a permanent key forward for the first time in his career, Petrie gave North an outstanding target inside its forward 50, dominating opposition defences with his contested marking and mobility. When in doubt in 2011, North kicked long to Petrie. Most often, it was the right option.

Coach's pet
With Andrew Swallow, Brad Scott knows he's going to get nothing short of a full-throttle effort, week in week out. Swallow does much of the grunt work for North's midfield, where he is an elite winner of clearances and contested possessions. However, he is also an underrated player in the open, rarely wasting a possession and kicking accurately in front on goal.

Next big thing
Jack Ziebell made a slow start to 2011 as he struggled for fitness. However, the third-year midfielder worked tirelessly to turn his season around and by the end of the year had established himself as a key player in North's on-ball division. His ability to compete at stoppages has never been questioned but, as his fitness improved, he showed he could win the ball in the open too. Ziebell showed just how good he could become with a 41-disposal effort against the Western Bulldogs in round 17.

Needs a big pre-season
Lachie Hansen looked to have found his niche as a key forward in the second half of 2010. However, he struggled upon Petrie’s return as North's No. 1 forward target. Eventually, Brad Scott began to switch Hansen between attack and defence, trying to find a way to get the best out of him. At his best, Hansen is an elite contested mark, but he needs to have an impact on games more often.

Trading places
Hamish McIntosh's name keeps getting brought up in trade discussions despite North's insistence he is going nowhere. A two-time All-Australian nominee, McIntosh is a quality ruckman, so interest from other clubs is inevitable. Todd Goldstein's stellar 2011 form has also entrenched him as North's No. 1 ruckman, which may convince McIntosh greater opportunities await at another club.

What they said
"(We have progressed) nowhere near as far as I was planning for and working towards but we're really, really confident that we've improved in a lot of areas. If you look purely at inside 50 and contested possession numbers we're right up there with the best in the competition. We're certainly lacking polish there's no doubt about that. That's something that will be a key focus of our pre-season."
- North Melbourne coach Brad Scott

In a nutshell
The effort was there, but the finishing class was not. However, that should change if some of North's youngsters can develop as much as Goldstein and Ziebell did in 2011.

Overall grade: B-

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs