NORTH Melbourne ultimately ran away with a comfortable win over Yartapuulti on Sunday afternoon, but things did not look so straight forward earlier in the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yartapuulti (the Power) matched it with the Kangaroos early in the match, and as such, went into quarter time even with them on the scoreboard at 1.2.8 apiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, things started to fall apart in the second term for Yartapuulti. North Melbourne kicked three goals to none in the quarter to open the game up in its favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, where did things go wrong for the Power? Rookie Me Central <\/em>will take a look at the stats in search of an answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The root of Yartapuulti\u2019s problems started with the clearances, which then affected other areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first quarter, North Melbourne only led the clearance count by two, but in the second quarter it had four more than Yartapuulti did to lead the overall count by six at half time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Kangaroos also led the hit out count in both the first and second quarter, so its rucks were helping the midfielders get first hands on the ball. Those mids, who together are already one of the strongest units in the competition, were getting the ball and moving it forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n That strength in the clearance battle also helped North establish dominance in the uncontested possessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first two quarters, North Melbourne had 49 and 38 uncontested possessions respectively, whereas Yartapuulti only had 18 and 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is in stark contrast to the contested possession battle, which remained relatively even between the two teams between the first and second quarter. The differential between the two teams from the first quarter to the second only grew by three in North\u2019s favour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n This dominance out of the middle from the Kangaroos helped the home side accelerate their inside 50 count in the second term, while Yartapuulti\u2019s actually went backwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first quarter North recorded six inside 50s to Yartapuulti\u2019s nine. In the second quarter, that tally was 16 to four in North\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Yartapuulti\u2019s inside 50 efficiency rose significantly from first quarter to second and North Melbourne\u2019s didn\u2019t, such a low inside 50 count was always going to mean kicking much of a score was going to be a tough challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the stark contrasts in these stats areas, many of the other differentials stayed pretty consistent. This included number of disposals, tackles and intercept possessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\nClearances<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Uncontested Possessions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Inside 50s<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many areas stayed consistent<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n