Is this a new era?

Something in the air during today’s win by North Melbourne over the two-time and reigning champs seemed to signify a changing of the guard.  

Sure, there are a bunch of caveats – most of them injury-related – but for the league’s long-term high-water mark to go out not with a bang but a whimper should do plenty to turn the few heads that remain fixated on the past.

Eb Marinoff was again best afield for the South Australian side alongside Anne Hatchard, but both were relegated to almost coalface triers when compared to their opposite numbers.

Last year the gap between the queens of the league and the new kids on the block was summed up by Adelaide’s six-goal demolition of North Melbourne away, a result that set in motion the narrative of the flat-track Roos.

This season that gap has not only closed, but a chasm has opened up in the other direction. While still respectful of the competition, North Melbourne fears no opponent and nor should they.