But what happens when the reality doesn't meet expectations? Did no one inform North Melbourne that at the end of round five, they should not be in the top four with the second best percentage (135.2%) in the competition? Why did their defence decide to have the best start to 2018 of any team (321 points scored against, the lowest at the end of round five)? Why is this star-less list playing some fantastic football as a team?
When things don't go as expected, a sense of panic settles into media street and now no one really knows what to make of North Melbourne... so rationally, their success stems from everyone else's failure.
Let's start with Good Friday.
Following the round two clash with St Kilda, all the heat was on the Saints. Maybe they’re not as good as everyone thinks? This game was so poor, neither side should be playing this Good Friday fixture.
*Just on that... Both ANZAC Eve and ANZAC Day games were rather tedious viewing for the general AFL supporter but we didn't hear about Melbourne, Richmond, Collingwood or Essendon under threat to lose their time slots now did we?
So despite the 52 point margin (which, might I add, all came in a second half onslaught) St Kilda is the one and only reason North won that day. The top eight fancies may not be as good as we think and that’s the reason for the win. Glad we could clear that up.
It was much of the same two weeks later. In round four, North played Carlton in the "wooden spoon clash" under lights at Blundstone Arena. This time, Carlton were to blame for making North look so good. All the talk was about how poor the Blues performed and how on the whole they've been pretty poor in 2018. HOWEVER they did play a sensational game against the reigning premiers in round one, and nearly knocked off second placed West Coast in round five. But those performances aside, their poor start to the season is why North won by 86 points.
So if the win on Good Friday was about an underwhelming Saints outfit, and round four against Carlton was about a really underwhelming Carlton outfit, one would assume that North defeated both sides heavily because of coincidence... or because of issues the opposition have... and because of expectations we had on both of these clubs that may not be met in 2018. But whatever the case was, it had absolutely nothing to do with North Melbourne?
Round Five seemed to change things a little.
Alastair Clarkson is a football genius and the transformation between 2017 Hawthorn and 2018 Hawthorn must be seen to be believed. Injuries haven’t been kind of late, but injuries aren’t the reason they lost the round five clash against North.
It was that opening half which sent shock waves through the league. The intensity was there and pressure mounted on Hawthorn in every part of the ground. Todd Goldstein was unstoppable in the opening quarter and set up countless goals from his silver service to the midfield. Brown, Waite and Ziebell dominated. Terry Wallace said that first half was the best performance of 2018 so far and he may not be wrong. The crowd was deafening, it was hard to believe the crowd was just shy of 28k.
In the third quarter, Hawthorn looked like they were about to record one of the biggest comebacks in history and when Shaun Higgins and Ed Vickers Willis went down within 20 seconds of each other I thought we were done for. But to North’s credit, down to two rotations and a limping Shaun Atley, they steadied the ship and recorded one of their best victories in a very long time.
It was the one that made everyone stand up and notice.
Plenty of good things have been said about North after the win against Hawthorn. So many, in fact that it now seems there have been other factors that contributed to the victories against St Kilda and Carlton. Maybe they aren't as bad as we thought they would be? Maybe... Maybe Not. But whatever happens from here on out, North Melbourne should be the only side accountable for North Melbourne's season. It's really not that hard of a concept.
There's been one exception to the rule (so far) this season: North's round one clash with Gold Coast in Cairns. Why anyone would schedule a football match in Cairns in late March is beyond me. Even more baffling, the game went ahead despite majority of the game being played underwater.
My North Talk co-panellist Matty Oliver summed it up perfectly. He said: If a bigger club (along the likes of Richmond, Essendon or Hawthorn, for example) were scheduled to play in those conditions, the game would've been called off.
Not enough credit was given to either side for 1. Completing the game without anyone dying and 2. Both coming to Melbourne the following week and winning... That's a tough ask after those conditions, and North did so with just a six day break.
There's certainly a bright side in a season of no expectations and flying under the radar, like our round three loss against Melbourne. After 17 wins in a row, it was almost a given we would finally fall. But the margin was just six goals and North remained pretty competitive throughout so that was pretty good. The best part about this game is that North was in control and responsible for their actions. For example, we were smashed in the clearances which was a big factor in the loss. That was rectified the week later against Carlton and against Hawthorn, too.
I am not sitting here asking every media personality and AFL fan to rate us in the top 8, or the next premiership challengers because we're not.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m the first person that would welcome a 2018 finals campaign... but that’s not what this is about.
The reality is, that if North Melbourne is as bad as everyone predicted pre-season, their football would be ugly, they wouldn’t have won more than two games and those losing margins would’ve been much greater than they’ve been so far.
North only won six games in 2017, but lost a further five by a collective 14 points. People forget these things when it’s convenient for them.
There isn’t much else about North Melbourne that needs to be said. Critics (and you’ll always have those) will blow every single comment out of proportion to make supporters seem delusional and completely unaware of what 2018 has in store. There's always been this obsession with suppressing the success and relevance of North Melbourne, and the more they come into the frame, the more outsiders start to panic.
But you need to let the club write it's own script for 2018, whatever it may be. We don't want a Spiritless St Kilda, hopeless Carlton and injury-plagued Hawthorn to dictate our season.
At the end of the day, we just want our season to be about us. Let North Melbourne's 2018 be about North Melbourne and not about everyone else who has potentially contributed to our success.
What we've done right and wrong so far, and for the remaining 2018 is up to North Melbourne and North Melbourne alone.
Yes, it’s really that simple.
What we've done right and wrong so far, and for the remaining 2018 is up to North Melbourne and North Melbourne alone.
Yes, it’s really that simple.
