Kangaroos forward Drew Petrie kicked five goals against GWS. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun
WHAT do you get out of a game like that?
Not much stumped North Melbourne full-back Scott Thompson yesterday but that question got him.
"It was a bit different," he said. "They put so many behind the ball. I've never played when there has been 11 back so it was a bit different."
That new experience came courtesy of Giants coach Kevin Sheedy after the Roos kicked eight goals to one in the opening term.
Sheeds hit the damage control button sent five loose GWS players in North's forward line at different times.
This left Thompson to his own devices given the Giants only had a two-man forward structure and he finished as the leading possession winner on the ground with 28.
It was a pleasant surprise for the key defender given he'd arrived at Etihad Stadium expecting a much harder afternoon.
He'd spent all week watching edits of Giants young gun Jeremy Cameron but an hour before the game got the good news that his man was a late withdrawal.
So let's have another go at that question. What do you get out of an 86-point win over the worst team in the competition?
"Our talk was a lot better," Thompson said. "We're working on that, our communication, and trying to get our defensive shape set up."
The biggest battle for the Roos is to hang onto the belief that there season isn't lost given they're now three games out of the eight.
"Obviously we're 5-8 now. Brad (Scott) has talked to us and said don't worry about finals. After Round 16 we'll see where we're at and hopefully we're 8-8," Thompson said.
"We can't drop too many more games but we just want to equal the level of wins and losses and then see where we can go."
Kangaroos forward Lindsay Thomas will come under scrutiny for headbutting Giant Jacob Townsend. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun
It was obvious early that this game was going to be one of those days where the GWS were for the most part non-competitive.
The late withdrawal of Cameron sucked the life out of the contest for most spectators and clearly his teammates.
After the first-quarter onslaught - Lindsay Thomas and Drew Petrie both kicked three goals - the game was cooked.
From there it was just looking for individual moments of brilliance to pass the afternoon.
At least GWS produced the best with youngster Will Hoskin-Elliott running 80m to kick the goal of the day late in the second quarter.
He intercepted a poor backwards kick from North's Brad McKenzie which was supposed to end up with full-back Scott Thompson.
Instead Hoskin-Elliott intercepted and from there it was a foot race which he was never going to lose.
Unfortunately that was it for the Giants who in the second half went to farcical lengths to limit the damage.
The flooding worked to a degree given the Roos only managed three goals in the third term but it reduced the game to one almighty yawn fest.
In the end Petrie finished with six goals while Thomas got four and Brent Harvey recovered from 'Pinchgate' to get three from 24 touches.
Probably the only bonus for the Giants hierarchy was the fact Buddy Franklin was in Tasmania so he missed the debacle.
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