Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has put the spotlight on North Melbourne following its dismal 66-point loss to Adelaide on Saturday.
Cornes highlighted multiple errors in the Kangaroos’ 21. 12. (138) to 11. 6. (72) defeat as they succumbed to a younger and less experienced side.
With a percentage of 68.1, North Melbourne sits next to last on the AFL ladder – above only the struggling West Coast Eagles (47.3 per cent).
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“North is lucky that West Coast exists because they’ve lost 13 [games] in a row once again this season,” he told Nine’s AFL Sunday Footy Show.
“They’ve won two for the year and once again it’s another 11-goal loss against a side that essentially started rebuilding at the same time.
“I don’t think we can start sweeping performances like this under the carpet, and people say, ‘Oh well North Melbourne was in the game for a half’, well, who cares because it was these sorts of efforts that allowed Adelaide 21 marks inside 50.”
Cornes was mostly frustrated with pundits making excuses for the Kangaroos based on their young list.
“[Fans] are just going to say, ‘That’s OK because North is young’. Well, you played against a side that is younger.”
Comparing the two sides’ levels of experience, North Melbourne has an average age of 25 years with 97.5 games in contrast to Adelaide’s 24 years and 10 months with 86.9 games.
“Adelaide was younger and less experienced than North,” Cornes said.
“They are no better than when they sacked [former coach] David Noble, and this season is just drifting off.
“It’s been a disastrous year for North Melbourne and it’s only because of West Coast that we are not talking about them more.
“I just don’t think North Melbourne fans should be accepting of another season where you win two games – yeah, they will beat West Coast in a couple of weeks – but three, four wins for the year is a disastrous return.”
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