North Melbourne is a basket case.
Since they last played in the finals in 2016, every other team – except the other perennial failure, Gold Coast – has made the finals at least once with nine teams achieving it at least five times in that period.
The 2020 decade has been particularly bad with the Kangaroos finishing in the bottom two teams on every occasion.
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Master coach Alastair Clarkson’s first year in the role appears to have not borne much progress, but I believe some baby steps were achieved.
In a pleasing development, no defections to other clubs by crucial players occurred, and the club followed the successful technique of Kevin Sheedy’s Greater Western Sydney in the early days of importing quality older players to inject some much-needed experience into the team.
Top 100 Game Players Lost: 0.
None of the seven players who departed had reached the Top 100 game players list.
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Top 100 Game Players recruited from other clubs: 3.
Luke Parker (#5 – Sydney) a former captain, premiership player and best and fairest winner at the Swans is still only 32 and should be able to add strength to the North Melbourne mid-field.
Jack Darling (#2-West Coast Eagles) also aged 32 and also a premiership player, Darling should provide good support to Nick Larkey and Cameron Zurhaar up forward.
Caleb Daniel (#32 -Western Bulldogs) completes the trifecta of premiership players recruited to the Kangaroos. At 28 years of age, he is younger than the other two recruits but has a best and fairest medal to his name and is one of the shortest players to ever play the game at AFL level.
Current Top 100 Game Players: 2.
Recognized as one of the problems for the Kangaroos, the only two Top 100 Game Players at the start of the 2024 season were: Luke McDonald (#32) and Jy Simpkin (eq #60).
They were joined in the last two weeks of the season by Zurhaar (eq # 96).
Cameron Zurhaar kicks a goal. (Photo by Jason McCawley/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )
Potential Top 100 Game Players in 2025: 2.
Nick Larkey should join the elite early in the season whilst Luke Davie-Uniacke should achieve the target in the second half of the season.
Players no longer qualified for the Top 100 Game Players List: 0.
No player dropped off the list this season but with a crowd of three champions now sitting in the 100th position hot seat, some carnage can be expected in 2025.
Top 100 Goal Kickers Lost: 0.
As with the ‘game players’, none of the ‘goal kickers’ discarded were yet to make their mark.
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Top 100 Goal Scorers recruited from Other Clubs: 2.
The coup was Jack Darling (#2-West Coast Eagles) who is not only #2 at West Coast but also #57 on the AFL all-time Top 100 Goal Kickers list.
Luke Parker (#21-Sydney) will also increase the Kangaroos’ goal-kicking ability.
Current Top 100 Goal Kickers: 2.
Nick Larkey (#17) has done extremely well in a bottom team and he has been aided and abetted by Cameron Zurhaar (#33).
Potential Top 100 Goal Scorers Next Season: 2.
Jy Simpkin and Paul Curtis are both capable of scoring the few goals they need to make the Top 100 list.
Top 100 Goal Scorers No longer Eligible: 0.