On paper it looked a no-contest. Gold Coast star Gary Ablett, celebrating AFL game 300, being tagged by North Melbourne's Declan Mountford in just his fourth senior match.
In the end, the Suns would win Saturday's match at Metricon Stadium and Ablett would be chaired off the ground but that didn't mean Kangaroos coach Brad Scott wasn't delighted with how the 20-year-old took to the task.
While Ablett picked up 37 disposals and nearly kicked a goal in the final term, Scott said he and his coaching staff had never felt the dual Brownlow Medallist was out-pointing his much younger rival.
"We really wanted to see how Declan acquitted himself," Scott said.
"Gary's a very good player and he played well but we thought that Declan is a really tenacious player and he'll be much better for the experience."
The Mountford move was one of several Scott tried on Saturday as he aimed to salvage something from a 2017 campaign that has the Kangaroos dwelling in 17th position with just four wins.
With Marley Williams omitted before the match due to back spasms, Scott recalled Lindsay Thomas for just his sixth match of a season in which he has been suspended twice.
Thomas spent the second half in an unfamiliar defensive role and Scott said it was an attempt to develop extra options in his squad.
"Circumstances in the short term warranted the changes tonight but it's certainly a long-term thing," Scott said.
"You see that probably with (Jarrod) Waite playing on the wing, (Jack) Ziebell at half-back, Lindsay Thomas at half-back - I don't think we've ever seen that at North Melbourne before.
"Part of that is we want to get Declan Mountford the experience of playing on Gary Ablett. We want to get Majak Daw playing forward ruck. If we want to get all those things, we've got to add some flexibility in other places."
Share
