North Melbourne has slumped to ten straight losses courtesy of dismal second and fourth terms against Gold Coast in Darwin in the latest 62-point defeat.
It’s a sad tale for the proud club, however the big story out of the game will be the potentially serious knee injury to Suns midfielder Lachie Weller.
The 26-year-old had missed just one game this season in a consistent year for Gold Coast, but he’s now facing a stint on the sidelines after the innocuous incident in the last quarter.
With just over ten minutes to play Weller attempted to evade a tackle and crumpled in the non-contact incident, portraying significant anguish on his face before he’d hit the ground.
He finished with 20 disposals and a whopping 802 metres gained to his name, but all eyes now turn to the inevitable Suns injury report for the prognosis.
The injury troubles stretched to North Melbourne as well, who will be without key defender Ben McKay next week due to a concussion suffered in the second term.
No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis also had his troubles late in the game, hobbling off the field with just minutes to go in the clash after appearing to be kicked in the achilles.
The Roos were all over the Suns early and went into the first break with a three-goal lead, however it then took them until the seventh minute of the third term to score again.
Gold Coast kicked nine straight goals to have the game all but locked up just after half-time, with North Melbourne run off their feet late.
Touk Miller was a clear best on for the Suns in what was his 150th game, racking up 32 disposals (23 contested), 13 clearances and eight tackles in one of the performances of the season.
He was well supported by Matt Rowell (25 disposals, 11 tackles) as the Suns tore the undermanned Roos midfield to shreds, dominating contested possessions 172-146.
It’s the latest in a long list of sorry defeats for North Melbourne who have now lost ten straight games.
David Noble’s side has also lost each of their eight by at least 47 points and will now face the Giants before a needed reset in the bye in Round 14.
For the Suns, momentum is continuing to grow in their season. They head into the bye with genuine belief they can play finals, moving into tenth on the AFL ladder after jumping Collingwood with the percentage gain.
FULL SCORE
Gold Coast: 1.4, 8.11, 11.13, 15.19. (109)
North Melbourne: 4.3, 4.3, 7.3, 7.5 (47)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Rankine 2, Day 2, Rowell, Powell, Swallow, Davies, Ainsworth, Ellis, Holman, Jeffrey, Rosas, Chol
North Melbourne: Davies-Uniacke, Simpkin, Anderson, Horne-Francis, Larkey, Goldstein, Ziebell
BEST
Gold Coast: Miller, Rowell, Powell, Rankine, Anderson
North Melbourne: Davies-Uniacke, Anderson, Greenwood, Simpkin, Horne-Francis
INJURIES
Gold Coast: Weller (Knee)
North Melbourne: McKay (Concussion), Horne-Francis (Achilles)