A five-goal haul by Lindsay Thomas has led North Melbourne out of a first-half slump to beat Richmond by 35 points.
The talented forward produced three goals in the third quarter on Saturday to fire up what had been a lacklustre effort by the Kangaroos at Hobart's Blundstone Arena.
Coach Brad Scott credited Thomas with the turnaround after the game went to its main break with the score near-level.
"He was the one who got us going after half time, after a disappointing second quarter," Scott told reporters after the game.
It inspired others to step up and finally overcome the Tigers 16.13 (109) to 10.14 (74).
"After some really disappointing lapses in concentration and some poor discipline late in the second quarter we were able to respond and keep our emotions in check," Scott said.
Ruckman Todd Goldstein continued his dominance on Saturday and drew praise from the coach, as did Shaun Higgins who finished with three goals, and forward Drew Petrie, whose assists proved valuable.
The result takes North Melbourne to three wins and three losses for the season.
"It was important to get back to 3-3 and we've got plenty of improvement in us, but at least we're still in the mix, we're still in the race," Scott said.
Richmond sit on four losses after the clash, which was a performance coach Damien Hardwick would rather forget.
"Consistency of performance is what we're after," he said.
"We take nothing away from North, they were good, and we for a 15-minute period were really poor."
Jack Riewoldt top-scored with three goals for the Tigers and Hardwick also nominated other contributors.
"(Dylan) Grimes had the job on Thomas for the majority of the day, (and) I thought his team defence philosophy was outstanding," he said.
"Thomas ended up with five goals but there were probably three from the goal square (Grimes) couldn't do anything about, so I'm pretty happy with his performance."
Richmond lost Ben Griffiths late in the first term, concussed and taken from the ground after a clash with an opponent.
"We will just have to wait and see how that pans out," Hardwick said of the injured forward.
Named in North Melbourne's forward line-up for Hobart, Jamie MacMillan was a late scratching with an achilles complaint and did not play on Saturday.
Share
