North Melbourne and Adelaide – the two sides that have managed to “lose the unloseable” – face off this weekend in search of an answer to their last quarter problems.
Sunday’s return AFL clash with Adelaide rekindles memories for the Kangaroos of the day they coughed up a five-goal lead in the last quarter of their round-nine meeting to lose by one gut-wrenching point at Etihad Stadium.
Adelaide, meanwhile, is still reeling from last weekend’s Showdown where they coughed up a 20 point lead with a few minutes remaining.
It’s a challenge for both coaches.
Brad Scott has met these challenges before. After all, 10th-placed North have lost five games by under a goal this season.
Take last week, for example, when North faced Geelong, who finished strongly to beat the Kangaroos by four points in round two. North turned the tables in round 19, triumphing over the third-placed Cats by 10 points after holding a 20-point advantage at halftime.
For once the Kangaroos (8-10 win-loss) weren’t overtaken after making the early running.
“It has been a few games where we’ve had those concerns,” Scott told reporters when asked about the return clash with the Crows.
“The week before against Geelong we could have easily said we had the same things going through our heads.
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“But we didn’t focus on that at all.
“We certainly learnt our lessons from last time on the things we did well and the things we did poorly.
“We executed that reasonably well last week.
“We did enough to get ourselves in a winning position against them (Adelaide), so that’s the good, but then we allowed them to score too easily at the end.
“Whilst it was a bitterly disappointing loss, we weren’t sitting here saying ‘gee, we can’t play’.”
Scott said he was pleased the Kangaroos were able to withstand Geelong’s second-half fightback last week.
“What’s been the dramatic change, and it’s only a small thing but it’s a big difference, is that when the momentum shifted on the weekend we were able to counter that,” Scott added.
While North Melbourne fans have had cause to rue their missed chances in last quarter nail-biters, Adelaide fans are still reeling from last Sunday’s Showdown.
Yesterday, their coach Brenton Sanderson suggested it could be a case of anxiety.
Sanderson blames a lack of composure for near-misses this season that will cost the Crows a finals spot.
Adelaide are 13th, with their finals hopes shot, ahead of a home fixture against North Melbourne on Sunday.
“It just feels like we’re getting in a situation where we can sometimes panic and feel a bit rushed when we need to just be calmer,” Sanderson told reporters on Thursday.
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“There’s a lot of examples where we should have been able to close games out and we haven’t done it.
“We have got to live with that, learn from it, and make sure that when we’re put in that situation again, that we’re much better prepared.”
Adelaide’s finals aspirations were dashed by a four-point loss to Port Adelaide last weekend, in which the Crows conceded four goals in the last six minutes. But Sanderson dismissed fitness as the reason.
“I don’t think we can solely say ‘it is because of this, that we’re not closing games out’,” he said.
“It’s a little bit about experience but also, too, managing anxiety.
“As the game comes down to the wire, we have got to educate our players to be able to handle those situations better … good sides are able to be calm and poised under pressure.”
Sanderson felt Adelaide’s seven wins and 11 losses didn’t accurately reflect their season.
“We have been in a lot of games, we have played some really great footy,” he said.
“We have had some challenges with personnel and injuries. We have got more trauma injuries than any other club in the competition this year … it just feels like we’re pretty banged up.
“But I have been really proud of the way our boys have fought it out.
“Yes, we have lost some games that we should have won.
“And it’s going to be a season that we reflect on that we haven’t met expectations. We are going to have to live with that during the summer.”
There is another element of intrigue to Sunday’s game; if fifth-placed Essendon are stripped of premiership points in the coming days following an investigation into their use of supplements, it would give North hope of playing finals if they could win their remaining games.
Brad Scott say’s not playing the slightest attention to the dramas at Windy Hill.
“Regardless of any other club’s situation, our focus has been on performing really well against good sides,” he said.
“We’ve got Adelaide … and Essendon, Hawthorn, Collingwood to finish.
“That’s occupying all my time. I’ve got enough to worry about with them.
“If we somehow end up in the finals through winning our last four games, our challenge is to make sure we’re playing really good footy so we can make an impact in September.”
