North Melbourne won their seventh game of the season and temporarily moved inside the top ten with a 25-point win over Richmond at the MCG. While the Tigers managed to keep North honest in the first half, they didn’t really look like they had the game plan necessary to steal the win.
Cooper Trembath kicked four goals from his dual ruck-and-forward role in a career-best performance. Caleb Daniel had 40 disposals, also a career best. I don’t know if Champion Data keeps track of how many career best performances have come against the Tiges this year, but it’d be a few. Richmond won more inside 50s than North, won the centre clearances, and still got beaten by 25. The third quarter was where it went awry, as it has been going all year, and the surprisingly large (almost 42K) MCG crowd sat through the familiar experience of watching a Richmond side do two reasonable quarters and then run out of answers.
The Last 5
North Melbourne have made something of a habit of making Richmond’s Sunday afternoons unpleasant. They won by 75 in April at Marvel Stadium in a 130-55 demolition that was part one of a seventeen-part series on whether North have ‘turned the corner’ or not. Before that, a 48-point win in the corresponding fixture last year, and a four-point scrape through in Round 10 of 2025 that was close enough to look like a contest but went North’s way at the final siren.
Everyone knows Richmond are in a heavy rebuild, so the results may not be all that surprising, but at least the margins are on a downward trend after this one.
Recent Form
Richmond (2-11): There are rebuilds where teams top up to stay relevant, and there are rebuilds where teams take huge pain for a few years, in the hopes of big gains once the cohort matures. Richmond are doing the latter in the hopes it reaps the same rewards as when they managed to draft the likes of Dusty, Cotchin and Reiwoldt and Deledio.
So with that in mind, the 2-11 ledger puts them bang on target for a good draft haul.
Still, two wins from thirteen games tells a sad story, though the “signs of promise” label has been applied so frequently to Tigers performances this year that it has started to feel like a permanent fixture of the post-match press conference regardless of the scoreline.
The most recent outing against Brisbane in Hobart ended in a loss but produced enough effort to suggest the group has some talent, but the lack of cohesiveness was telling. Jasper Alger has been the exception to the rule. Seven goals across back-to-back games against Sydney and Brisbane is the kind of form that makes people ask uncomfortable questions about how he was available at the time the Tigers took him. He has genuine talent and is using his limited opportunities with efficiency. The rest of the list is developing. Some of that development is going well. A lot of it is going slowly.
North Melbourne (6-7): Lesson one: Do not say this out loud around people under 14. You will suddenly see the merits of youth military schools.
The fact that six wins is officially the most the Roos have accumulated in a season since 2019, is exactly the sort of stat that makes Roos fans smile and despair all at once. That sort of emotional juxtaposition suits a team that can challenge premiership contenders one week, and look completely out of their depth the next.
After getting absolutely dismantled by Fremantle in what can only be described as the worst visit to WA that didn’t include a tour of Rolf Harris’ childhood home, they bounced back to beat West Coast in Perth in their most recent outing, with Jack Darling, the 34-year-old they picked up from the Eagles at the end of 2024 who was supposed to be winding down, kicking four goals in the first half against his former club with the gleeful accuracy of a man who had something to prove and proved it.
The win left them at 6-7 and in genuine finals contention, though it has to be said that two of those wins are against the current opponent. North have three road games coming up — this one, then Essendon, then Port Adelaide — and how they handle them will define whether 2026 is remembered as a turning point or another near-miss.
Ins and Outs
Richmond
In: Toby Nankervis, Taj Hotton
Out: Jacob Hopper (ankle), Ollie Hayes-Brown (omitted)
Nankervis returning is the headline. He has been absent for several weeks with a hamstring complaint that has been part of the ongoing narrative of a season where the person with the most touches at the club is the physio. He goes straight into the ruck against Tristan Xerri, which is a matchup that has been very entertaining in the last few years. Big X and Nank the Tank are of a dying breed of big men that follow the “see ball, smash ball” style of ruck craft, and I like it.
Taj Hotton gets his first taste of senior football this season after getting through fifteen disposals and seven tackles in the VFL without incident. Hayes-Brown makes way on omission. Hopper’s ankle keeps him out, which is a blow to Richmond’s midfield depth.
The injury list beyond the confirmed outs is extensive. Tom Lynch (larynx, two weeks away), Tom Sims (MCL, 3-5 weeks), Josh Smillie (quad, TBC) and a collection of longer-term absentees including the ACL-affected Gibcus and Clarke mean Richmond are still a long way from anything resembling full strength. The good news is that most of the remaining squad will be fit and available, and at the MCG, a genuine home game, there is at least some emotional ammunition to draw on.
North Melbourne
In: Finn O’Sullivan, Aidan Corr
Out: Paul Curtis (suspension), Griffin Logue (omitted)
In the greatest miscarriage of justice since Lindy Chamberlain took the fall for a pack of Dingos, Curtis missing through suspension was a significant loss for the Roos. He has been North’s best small forward this season and the disruption he causes inside attacking 50 has been a consistent feature of their better performances. Unfortunately, he’s the latest victim of the AFL penalising the outcome over the action, and suffering under North’s legal team strategy, which seems to hinge on some work experience kid whose only qualification is watching multiple seasons of Suits.
Finn O’Sullivan coming back from concussion after clearing protocols is a genuine positive. He adds midfield run and was effective earlier in the year before the injury interrupted his season. His ability to earn his own ball in the open or play accountably to an opponent makes him the most important player in the squad.
Aidan Corr (26 disposals and 12 marks in the VFL last week) provides the defensive structure Clarkson prefers and bumps Logue to omission. Logue has done himself no favours in the last few weeks, but a big body is still a big body, and his VFL outing was pretty strong in North’s 122-59 victory over Richmond.
The Start
If (like me) the closure of the Eastern freeway meant you arrived late to the game, don’t worry, from my re-watching of the broadcast, you didn’t miss much. The first quarter produced one goal from each team and ten entries inside 50 apiece, which sounds like an even contest and statistically was, except for the part where Richmond’s kicking efficiency sat at 60% and they committed seven clanger kicks despite winning the clearances 7-4. North had six of the first seven inside 50s and couldn’t score from any of them, because their first two set shots missed and their early entries were rushed kicks with no clear target.
Richmond’s first goal came at the nine-minute mark through a quick spurt from Sam Cumming, who had ten disposals for the quarter and provided exactly the sort of early impact a team coming off a mid-season run of losses needs from its younger contributors. North’s only first-quarter goal came from Wardlaw in his milestone 50th game, kicked from a forward 50 stoppage as a full stop on a quarter that both teams should have scored more in.
At quarter time the game was a contest to see who could make the least amount of unforced errors, and North were slightly ahead in that regard.
The Second Quarter
Trembath opened the second quarter with North’s first goal from a turnover before five minutes were up, then Larkey added another, and the lead that should have been building in the first quarter began arriving in the second. Richmond pushed back through Alger at the fifteen-minute mark and Lefau at twenty-one minutes with both converting in a ten-minute stretch that kept the margin manageable and gave the home crowd enough to work with.
Xerri went off at the eleven-minute mark with an apparent injury, which briefly offered Richmond’s tall timber some extra room. Trembath filled the ruck duties and immediately had two hitouts to advantage at centre bounce while also being North’s most dangerous forward, which is not something most coaches plan for in their weekly preparation. His second goal was a set shot after an athletic one-handed contested mark that will surely be replayed throughout the week for a shot inside 50 that he converted, giving North a lead at halftime that they would not surrender.
The second half
The third quarter was the game. North Melbourne kicked three for the quarter, including Trembath’s third and fourth, and turned a match that had been competitive into one that wasn’t. They led disposals by 34 in the quarter alone, led contested possessions 18-7 after Richmond had won that metric in the first half, and produced the kind of sustained midfield dominance that the first two quarters had only hinted at. North still had issues connecting between the midfield and the scoring zone, but any turnover was promptly returned to sender by the Tigers.
Trembath’s third goal came after a forward 50 tackle on Nick Vlastuin, the fourth was his career-best in both the individual game and the season. The fact that he was also attending centre bounces and contributing ruck hitouts while somehow ending up in the forward pocket with time to steady and kick is a fairly impressive trick. Clarkson’s use of Trembath as a genuine multi-role player is one of the more interesting tactical decisions in the competition this year.
Richmond, for their part, didn’t score a goal in the third quarter. One behind for the term. They’ve won a single third quarter in 2026, and that may not change for a while.
The Finish
The last quarter was Richmond at their most competitive and least effective. They kicked three goals — Balta kicked two in quick succession from clearances to briefly threaten a margin cut, Liam Fawcett added a third — but North answered each time through Wardlaw, Xerri and Stephens. The margin, which had been 20 points at the final change, stayed roughly where it was throughout the quarter because both teams essentially cancelled each other out by playing the long-down-the-line style of footy that won’t get you dragged, but won’t get you goals either.
Tim Taranto had two clearances in the final term as Richmond briefly won the centre bounce count in Q4 (3-1 for the quarter), but seven clearances for the game and 21 disposals in a losing side tells the story of a player doing significant work against a midfield that was collectively better on the day.
Caleb Daniel reached 40 disposals with several minutes remaining. North won by 25. At the ground it felt like there was very little animosity between crowds or players, with Richmond faithful feeling subdued and the North supporters remembering that feeling over a very long period.
Bad accuracy is bad footy
North Melbourne came into the game as the most accurate goal-kicking team in the competition this season, but by the final siren they’d ceded that position to Adelaide. Duursma kicked 0.3 from four set shots. Charlie Spargo missed two. McKercher, LDU and Darling all missed gettable shots. In a game won by 25 points it didn’t matter, but if this game had been close it would have been the story. North need to return to their sharpshooting best if they want to hold out for a wildcard.
Tristan Xerri going off in the second quarter with an apparent injury and then returning to kick a goal in the last quarter is either a testament to the big man’s resilience, or a needless risk that could bite them in the arse. Only a scan will tell us which it is.
Midfield matchup
North had far more experience in the middle, and it showed.
Caleb Daniel had 40 disposals, a career best, with 33 uncontested possessions, seven rebound 50s and 91% disposal efficiency for 493 metres gained. He averages 26 disposals against Richmond, his highest against any opponent. On Sunday he improved that average while simultaneously making it seem like one of his more routine efforts. Harry Sheezel had 31 disposals, 12 contested possessions, four clearances and six score involvements. Luke Parker added 28 disposals with a 87% disposal efficiency. The North midfield as a unit generated the kind of clean ball movement that makes scoring look effortless, and produced 10 goals from 46 inside 50s.
Tim Taranto was Richmond’s answer, and he was solid. A game-high seven clearances, 21 disposals, 15 contested possessions. He was Richmond’s engine and worked all four quarters. The problem was that the engine was running in a car missing several other components. Dion Prestia and James Trezise contributed solidly, but the collective North midfield was simply a better unit for longer.
North had 18 more tackles than Richmond for the match (56-38), led the pressure differential 1.75 to 1.43, and won the game in the contested areas that matter most once you get past the scoreboard.
Ruck Battle
Look, I know the modern game is all about mobile big men who can impact around the ground. Rucks can’t jump, wrestle or bulldoze their way around any more. I get that. I don’t like it, but I get it.
So when two steak-eating, beer-drinking, teammate-concussing heavyweights match up, I start to look forward to a bit of an old-fashioned slobberknocker of an encounter.
What unfolded was more complicated.
Xerri went off injured in the second quarter, Trembath absorbed a significant portion of the centre bounce ruck duties (with two hitouts to advantage in the first half), and the net result was North finishing with 30 hitouts to Richmond’s 26.
Xerri returned in the second half and he kicked a goal in Q4, but the net result of the ruck battle was inconclusive by the numbers. Richmond actually won the centre clearances 8-6, which suggests Nankervis wasn’t being outworked at the throw-up. The difference came at ground level, where North’s midfielders did far more with the ball once it left the stoppage.
Slight nod to Nankervis for competing well against a compromised Xerri in his first game back, and having to match the pace and athleticism from Trembath, which he would not have expected to have to do for as long as he did.
But even with that, Xerri still dominated both Nankervis and Balta as the relief. He had more of the ball, more marks, more tackles and more hitouts, even with missing a third of the match on the bench.
The Stats that Sting
- Richmond had 48 inside 50s. North had 46. Richmond’s inside 50 efficiency was 38.6%. North’s was 54.3%. That’s the game right there. Clean that up, and the Tigers are winners, but the same can be said of anyone.
- Cooper Trembath: 4 goals, career high, 12 disposals, 9 tackles, attended centre bounces and took forward marks simultaneously. Twelve months ago he was playing for Blackburn in the suburbs. His evolution from “Let’s see what he can do” to “Far out, we’ve struck gold here!” has been another case for looking at the regionals for ready-to-go talls rather than have them sit on a list while their coordination catches up to their stature.
- Caleb Daniel’s 40 disposals at 91% efficiency produced 493 metres gained. For context, he averages 26 against Richmond. Today was a career best and his eighth game against the Tigers. For a player barely bigger than an Auskicker, he punches above his weight.
- Zane Duursma: 0.3 from four set shots. He has astounding talent, but “Big Game Zane” needs to find some consistency.
- Finn O’Sullivan had seven disposals for the match on his return from concussion, five of which were score involvements — a ratio that would satisfy any coach managing a player back from injury easing their way through their first game. It was not O’Sullivan’s quantity but the quality of what he did with the ball that kept North’s system clicking through the middle part of the game.
Milestone of the Warlord
George Wardlaw’s 50th game was the milestone, and he marked it with two goals and the composure of a player who understands what milestone games are supposed to look like. His Q4 goal provided North with the security they needed after Richmond’s Balta had kicked two in a row to threaten the margin. Good timing, good instincts, good milestone.
Final thoughts
North Melbourne are sitting in tenth and daring to hope for a wildcard now. Seven wins is their most in a season since 2019. The way Clarkson has built the pressure game, the ruck flexibility through Trembath and the half-back run through Daniel, McKercher, and Zurhaar gives them a structure that can compete with any team on a good day. The question is whether good days arrive consistently enough to get them into September. The next two games against Essendon and Port are must-wins, because the final rounds of Hawthorn, Bulldogs, Cats and Swans will be a hard slog for the Roos.
For Richmond, this was the third quarter problem again. One third-quarter win all season. Until that problem is solves, the promising passages in Q1 and Q2 will keep being overwritten by what happens after the long break. There is talent here — Taranto, Alger, Balta, Cumming all contributed — but the consistency isn’t, and while it’s not a surprise in a team rebuilding, it’s not welcome either.
George Wardlaw’s 50 game milestone was a welcome one, but reinforces just how much time he’s spent off the field. Sheezel was in the same draft, and has more than 30 extra games — a whole season. He is a genuine star player, giving his all at every contest, but he needs to stay on the track too. Hopefully, he can have an easier ride to his 100th.
Next up
Richmond play Collingwood at the MCG. While Collingwood are a bit temperamental this year, it’s hard to see a line where Richmond have enough winners to seriously threaten the Pies.
Nick Daicos had 41 disposals and nine clearances against Port Adelaide last week, Jordan De Goey reignited his season at the same time, and a Collingwood side that has identified the Tigers as part of a winnable stretch of fixtures will arrive at the MCG with something to prove. Richmond, by contrast, arrive having won two games all year.
Collingwood by 34.
North host Essendon at Marvel next Sunday. Going from playing against Richmond to taking on the Dons in 2026 is like beating up your little brother and then taking on the family goldfish. North aren’t good enough to be complacent here, but Essendon aren’t currently good enough to worry many teams without a significant injury list. North need to recoup percentage that they lost in the Freo game, and with West Coast and Richmond not supplying much of it, they’ll need to put Essendon to the sword if the wildcard entry is to be anything more than wishful thinking.
For Essendon, they haven’t had the new coach bounce that they would have hoped, but they’ve had a bit more edge since Solomon took the reigns, and may have been a bit unlucky to go down to the Blues.
Still, I have North here by 50.
