Rhyce Shaw says he feels for North Melbourne’s members and supporters as they edge closer towards finishing in their lowest-ever AFL ladder position.
A fifth consecutive loss in the form of a 63-point thumping from fellow also-rans Gold Coast on Sunday night left the Kangaroos sitting second from bottom with three matches to play.
They were blown away at stoppages and didn’t manage a goal after half-time in the uncompetitive 12.19 (91) to 4.4 (28) defeat at Metricon Stadium.
But the heaviest loss of Shaw’s 26-match coaching tenure to date could have been even worse if the Suns had kicked straight in front of goal.
Shaw said he was “at a bit of a loss” to explain the meek performance but refused to use excuses as his injury-ravaged team works its way through the rest of the compressed fixture.
“I really feel for our fans and our members and our club as a whole because it wasn’t good enough and it’s not acceptable at this level,” Shaw said.
“It’s a tough competition, you’ve got to rock up every week and if you don’t, you’ll get found out.”
North Melbourne received 13 wooden spoons in the old 12-team Victorian Football League but have never finished lower than 15th in the expanded national competition.
The task of climbing above that mark won’t get any easier for the 17th-placed Kangaroos when they take on ladder leaders Port Adelaide on Saturday.
They then round out the home-and-away season with matches against Fremantle and premiership contenders West Coast.
“It’s about us as a collective and what that response is going to be next week and how that looks,” Shaw said.
“As a coach and as a coaching staff we’re always looking for angles and things to improve, to do things differently and try things.
“We’ve tried a lot this year and I think we’ve done a lot in that area, but we just need to execute.”
Shaw is in his first full season in the full-time coaching role after signing a three-year contract in August last year.