North Melbourne heads into the 2022 season with relatively low expectations, as senior coach David Noble embarks on his second year at the helm at Arden Street.
The Roos finished last season dead last on the ladder, netting them the prized first overall selection at last November's National Draft, which turned out to be highly-regarded South Adelaide midfielder, Jason Horne-Francis.
The Kangaroos were also lauded for poaching hard-nosed midfielder Hugh Greenwood from the Gold Coast Suns, as well as landing promising ex-Richmond ruck-forward Callum Coleman-Jones during the trade period.
Many pundits predict the young Roos to nestle among the bottom four teams in the competition by season's end, but veteran skipper Jack Ziebell, along with gun talents such as Jy Simpkin and Tarryn Thomas, will look to lead North to greater success in 2022.
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Ins: Jackson Archer (National Draft), Miller Bergman (National Draft), Callum Coleman-Jones (Richmond), Paul Curtis (National Draft), Josh Goater (National Draft), Hugh Greenwood (Gold Coast Suns), Jason Horne-Francis (National Draft), Tom Lynch (Adelaide Crows).
Outs: Shaun Atley (delisted), Tom Campbell (St Kilda), Trent Dumont (Port Adelaide), Taylor Garner (delisted), Charlie Ham (delisted), Connor Menadue (delisted), Robbie Tarrant (Richmond), Dom Tyson (delisted), Will Walker (delisted).
Prediction
At times over the course of recent seasons, North Melbourne's list has shown vast potential, and the club continued to add prospective talent this off-season, but we ultimately don't believe the Kangaroos will improve beyond their 18th-placed 2021 finish.
An overbearing lack of star talent and an extremely inexperienced core of players is likely to be the club's undoing this season, as they continue their rebuild.
Predicted Finish: 16th
