THE ‘ROOS ARE OUTSTANDING ON A SLICK DECK

They’ve promised a lot and most pundits have them pushing for the top come finals time, but this was the first time in 2020 we’ve seen anything like the dominant performance the Kangaroos are capable of when on song.

Sure, they seemed to have an edge on their Round 1 opponents Melbourne during the first quarter of that game, but when the wind turned from blustery to near-cyclonic, the Dees adapted better to the conditions and snatched the points.

In Launceston too, while they were able to best the Giants without much trouble, the performance wasn’t enough to elevate them to the loft climes enjoyed by Fremantle and Collingwood as the teams to beat.

Enter Round 3. Playing the winless and at times seemingly rudderless Tigers helped of course, but with the sun shining and not a breath of wind to be felt, the conditions were cherry ripe for a North masterclass.

Emma King mixed imposing ruck work with deft taps and secondary groundwork, Jasmine Garner kicked the first goal and was swiftly followed by Emma Kearney who played the quintessential captain’s knock. It actually took them a quarter to work their way through the gears, but in the second term the Kangaroos were irrepressible.

Adding to the usual suspects, Sophie Abbatangelo, Kaitlyn Ashmore, Daisy Bateman and Jenna Bruton did what they liked for the most part–goals were easy to come by, handballs precise and tackling coming back the other way fastidious.

All without mentioning the best player on the ground.

UNDERESTIMATE ASH RIDDELL AT YOUR PERIL

Having been earmarked as TWG’s one to watch this season, Riddell made sure all eyes were glued to her through pure ball winning prowess alone.

She was on fire early, putting her stamp on proceedings with four touches – all effective – in the opening few minutes.

Not only did Riddell get to the right place almost every time, but she bamboozled opponents and displayed sublime vision and execution when she got boot to ball. Even Richmond fans were probably somewhat impressed, despite being beaten so comprehensively on the scoreboard.

It was special to witness.

After racking up an astounding 17 disposals in the first half alone (when the game was still on the line), Riddell had a relatively quiet second half and ended the game on 21, the vast majority of which either got her team out of a bind or, more often, setup their many goal kickers on the day.

BOTH CONFERENCES LOOK CONGESTED AT THE TOP

There is no such thing as breathing room in this league, with even the undefeated Lions and Dockers still needing to win and win well to lock in finals berths.

The Kangaroos have the best percentage of all comers in Conference A (when have we seen that before?) but sit even on points with the Giants and Crows and a mere two points ahead of Round 4 opponent Gold Coast.

After Round 1, there was widespread consternation that the organisers had “stuffed up” the arrangements again, with Conference B looking stacked with the best teams, and North Melbourne’s populated by also-rans.

While Conference B still looks very strong, with the exception of Richmond, who have looked a fair bit off the pace (though even they have shown signs of improvement and were better for long periods than the 56 point margin in this game suggests), all sides around these Shinboners look dangerous and more than capable of challenging into April.

With increasing experience and a mission to be the best of the best in 2020, North Melbourne could be premiers – the best part is we’ll just have to wait and see.