Brett Harvey

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Domain Stadium, Perth

North Melbourne was put to the sword in a one-sided contest against the Fremantle Dockers in their Round 8 clash in Perth. The visiting Kangaroos were never a threat and showed the same inconsistency that has haunted them over the past few seasons. Just when fans think that North might be a contender, the players fall and stumble at the hurdles that teams like Fremantle throw up at them. It is hard to predict which Kangaroos' side is going to take the paddock from week to week and for this game the wrong side turned up. North Melbourne was belted from pillar to post and looked second rate against a more skilled and disciplined Fremantle unit.

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Patersons Stadium, Perth

Dockers players (and supporters) find themselves in the heady environs of the top of the Ladder after a comprehensive belting of the North Melbourne Kangaroos at Patersons Stadium in Round 13. In wet and blustery conditions, the football was average at times and the Kangaroos never really left the starting blocks after a dismal first quarter.

North could not find a path to goal at all. Their tackling was ferocious however and they had the Dockers on the back foot for about the first ten minutes of the game. However once they settled and adjusted to the pace, Fremantle began to move the ball forward and started to pepper the goals. The weather made for some inaccurate kicking and the Dockers wasted some gettable shots to tally up three behinds. North, on the other hand, could manage only two of their own, registering a paltry score when the quarter ended. It was only seconds before the siren that Fremantle kicked their only goal after Michael Barlow soccered the ball off the mud for a major and a seven point lead.

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Patersons Stadium, Perth

Nic Naitanui’s towering mark and goal after the siren gave the West Coast Eagles an unlikely come from behind win against North Melbourne in their Round 8 Friday night clash at Patersons Stadium. The Eagles kicked the last three goals to pinch the win after a dour struggle. In a free flowing game that looked over for them with minutes to play, Naitanui's miracle pack mark saved the day for West Coast and robbed the deserving Kangaroos of a win on the road.

Perth has been in the grip of a never-ending summer. On a day that should have been pleasantly autumnal, the North Melbourne Kangaroos arrived to face 97 degree heat and a parochial crowd of nearly 36,000. To make matters worse, the Kangaroos' premier ruckman Goldstein came down with a stomach virus before the game leaving the lion’s share of the work up to first gamer Cameron Pederson.