If you're a bottom side, North Melbourne will blitz you; if you're a premiership hopeful, the Roos can disrupt your charge.
The Kangaroos are no longer the league's easy beats, and Saturday's performance against arguably the best side in the league, Sydney, is proof.
The game was a frustrating watch for Roos fans and coach Alastair Clarkson as North Melbourne missed handballs and were counterattacked time and time again by the fleet-footed Sydney. But don't fret for too long, Shinboners, your time in the sun is not far away.
North Melbourne dominated parts of the game, and with a little extra class, they could have taken the biggest scalp of the year against the Bloods. The Roos won inside 50s 67-51 and had two more scoring shots.
What was most impressive was that North Melbourne kicked 97 points and came within two goals of beating Sydney without the impact from Nick Larkey, Paul Curtis or Cooper Trembath in attack. The Roos had 11 different goal scorers as they proved they don't just rely on a select few anymore.
Speaking in the post-game presser, Clarkson praised how his side matched it with the best in the league.
"(The Swans) punish sides from their back end better than any team in the competition, but by and large we were able to curtail a lot of that," he said.
"It was an arm wrestle and they just had a little bit more polish.
"I thought our endeavour to keep them to 51 inside 50s, go back and look at the stats for the season where Swans have been for inside 50s for the year and you will find that's the best performance by a side for the year. That was very, very good defence. It's hard to stop them when they get out but we stopped them a fair bit today."
Playing against his old side, Luke Parker was a class above, while Luke Davies-Uniacke was at his side, stepping best.
George Wardlaw is a wrecking ball, Colby McKercher is as quick as lightning, Harry Sheezel is a gun, and Zane Duursma (14 goals in 2026) is starting to make an impact.
Yes, Roos players, coaches, fans and more will be sick of honourable losses, but in 2026, unlike any season since 2016, there is a clear path for North Melbourne's next finals push.
