North Melbourne coach Brad Scott proudly declared his side’s best football was good enough to take on allcomers after the Kangaroos scored an upset win over Adelaide on Sunday.
North climbed one spot to 11th and improved their record to 6-6 with the 17.19 (121) to 13.11 (89) win in front of 18,866 fans at Etihad Stadium.
Key forward Robbie Tarrant had a break-out game with a career-best haul of four goals in his 14th senior game, while Daniel Wells was superb in midfield with 31 possessions.
The Kangaroos had surged clear by 41 points at halftime against the flat-footed Crows, who conceded 10 goals to four in the first half but fought back to lose by 32 points.
It was a lost opportunity for Adelaide who suffered just their third loss for the season and slipped from second to fifth, when a win would have put them on top of the AFL table.
Lindsay Thomas and Leigh Adams booted three goals each for the Kangaroos while Taylor Walker scored three goals for Adelaide and was a constant threat up front with 19 possessions and 10 marks.
Walker’s fellow key forward Kurt Tippett was subbed off at halftime with concussion.
North’s other big scalp this year was against defending premiers Geelong in round three, but the Kangaroos lost four of their next five matches.
“We haven’t been playing our best footy but we don’t think our capabilities have disappeared overnight,” Scott said.
“We firmly believe that when we play at our best, our best is pretty good and is capable of taking it up to the best sides in the competition.
“We just had to get back to the fundamentals of what makes us play well.
“It’s a pretty positive day for us. I’m really proud of the group.”
Scott Thompson, Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane had 74 disposals between them for the Crows but overall the Kangaroos won the contested possessions 134-115 in a telling blow to the visitors.
Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson played down the pre-game talk of Adelaide being hit by a flu bug.
“It was only really ‘Thommo’ and ‘Danger’ who had flu symptoms during the week. That’s no excuse today,” he said.
“When you go in as number one in the competition in contested ball and you get beaten by 19, it’s probably the main reason, if you’re looking for reasons why we got beaten.
“We’ve been so good inside the contest but today we got beaten inside the contest and outside.”
North had 123 handball-receives to Adelaide’s 74.
“They touched us up at our own game with contested ball and they just seemed to spread better than us,” Sanderson said.
Scott praised the dynamic performance of emerging utility Shaun Atley who had 23 disposals and five inside-50s. Atley used his speed in defence to help set up a vital goal for Thomas late in the third quarter.
North face a classic eight-point game against eighth-placed St Kilda next Sunday at Etihad, while Adelaide host Richmond on Saturday.
