See what North Melbourne coach Brad Scott had to say following his side’s 62-point Elimination Final loss to Adelaide on Saturday night.
His initial thoughts following the season-ending loss…
“We’re disappointed obviously, we came over here to win the game and to acquit ourselves well and we were just outplayed tonight.
“We couldn’t quite get the ascendancy in a few areas that we tried to and we got close a few times but to Adelaide’s credit they kicked away.
“We were really disappointed with our defensive effort tonight, I haven’t seen us get out-marked 2-on-1 as many times as we did tonight.
“Structurally it wasn’t too bad but we were really poor in our execution.”
On Adelaide’s ability to take control of the contest in the second half…
“Their efficiency was good in the first half and ours wasn’t where it needed to be, so we could have been in a much better situation at half-time.
“We were really disappointing in the third quarter, skill errors and really poor tackling.
“When you play that way against Adelaide who have got such a dangerous offence, they make you pay and they certainly made us pay in that third quarter.”
On North Melbourne’s unlucky run with injury throughout the second half of the year…
“It probably started in Round Seven, we started losing guys systematically in games and from week to week and we never really at any stage got our group back.
“In contrast, Adelaide have had a fantastic year and they deserve to progress through the first week of finals.
“They’ve done a terrific job on field and they’ve done a terrific job keeping pretty much their core (of players) together all year and it does make a significant difference.
“Really good sides who are challenging for premierships each year, they are able to cover some losses, we weren’t able to cover them, so that in itself says we’ve got work to do.”
On the legacy of North’s four departing veterans…
“The senior players are going to leave a magnificent legacy for our football club but there’s no doubt the landscape will look completely different next year.
“They leave a huge hole but there are plenty of guys who are really hungry and eager to fill those holes but right now, now that the game is over, the overwhelming feeling is one of reflecting on the legacy those guys will leave us.
“Everyone will remember the great deeds on field and everyone within the club will remember all of the boys and what they did for us off-field but overriding all of that will be the legacy for the next generations of North Melbourne footballers.”
On which side is best positioned to claim the 2016 AFL premiership…
“We thought before the start of the finals series it was as open as it’s ever been and it’s a credit to the AFL, they’ve had a stated objective of making the competition as equal as they can and they have achieved that objective.
“Any of those six (remaining) teams are capable of winning the two or three games they need to win the premiership.”
