Insipid Kangaroos ‘got ambushed’

AFL: Patrick Dangerfield has produced a brilliant goal for the Crows in their 77-point thrashing of North Melbourne.

North Melbourne players leave Adelaide Oval. Picture: Mark Brake Source: News Corp Australia

A "boiling'' Brad Scott has savaged his North Melbourne team, labelling its 77-point opening round loss to Adelaide as "insipid'' and an "indictment'' on the club.

"That performance is bitterly disappointing to us and is an indictment on us,'' the Kangaroos coach said last night in the aftermath of a defeat which has left questions hanging over the club's premiership credentials.

"We came over (to Adelaide) preparing for an ambush and we got ambushed.

"We got slaughtered in the contest and it was just a really disappointing performance clearly.

''We lost contested possession 141-115, we were dominated around the ball and we fumbled the ball like I haven't seen us fumble in my time as coach at North Melbourne.

AFL: North Melbourne coach Brad Scott fronts the media after his side's 77 point flogging by Adelaide in round one.

"The kicking efficiency was horrific and the opposition's appetite for the contest was much better than ours, which is an indictment.''

North, a preliminary finalist last season, lost an opening round encounter for the sixth consecutive year and Scott vowed to put the heat on his players at training during the week to spark a strong response before next Sunday's home clash against the Brisbane Lions.

"There's no point getting angry, I'm boiling inside, but we've got to do something about it,'' Scott said.

"Everyone these days talks in cliches and it's about actions, not words.

"You can rip paint off walls and you can do those sorts of things and the players will get what's coming to them but it's about what we do about it that's going to make the difference.

Brad Scott and Andrew Swallow lead North Melbourne off. Source: Getty Images

"As a group we were disappointing. Individuals fought hard but as a team of 22 we didn't show anywhere near the fight required.''

The Kangaroos conceded six goals in each of the first, second and final quarters and were only on top for a 15-minute burst in the third term when they kicked five unanswered goals.

They were pushed aside physically by a super-competitive Crows outfit, which was playing its first game under new coach Phil Walsh.

But Scott put that down to nothing else but mindset.

"Clearly its mindset because physically we are better than we were last year,'' he said.

Lindsay Thomas kicks a goal for North Melbourne. Source: Getty Images

"We tried to steel our guys for a contest and we didn't respond.

"So we've just got to get back a really aggressive mindset in the contest because really everything else is secondary.

"We'll train it really strongly, you can train that. We pride ourselves on being a good contested side and we were beaten by a much better contested side on the day.

"The flip side is that Adelaide are a really strong outfit, they are really well organised, they are hard at the contest and they've got both sides of their game - offence and defence - working really well.

"But that doesn't excuse for a second the insipid performance of our guys.''

Asked about the perception of North now as a premiership contender, Scott said: "Who cares about that.

"Do you seriously think that people internally in footy clubs care about what external people write about you?

"Whether positively or negatively, it's irrelevant to us. Internally is all we care about and what we've got to do about it.''

The only bright spot on a horror day for the Roos was former Bulldog Shaun Higgins bagging four goals in his first game for his new club, although even that didn't please Scott.

"He did what he is capable of do doing but Shaun is not going to hang his hat on that - a 12-goal loss,'' Scott said.

North's other prized off-season recruit, former Blue Jarrad Waite, had a day to forget, managing just 10 disposals and failing to hit the scoreboard.

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