North Melbourne skipper Andrew Swallow. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun
ANDREW Swallow remembers the day North Melbourne was re-made.
Off the field, it had been coming for a while - there were the class facilities at Arden St and growing belief in coach Brad Scott.
But something was seemingly missing.
Wind back a season and a half and the players were, we were told, one-paced, dour battlers.
Radio was full of experts and talk-back callers disparaging the Kangaroos as one-dimensional after a string of big losses to strong opponents.
But something significant happened last year, when, in one of the storylines of the season, the team was reborn.
Drew Petrie and teammates last year. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun
That same collection of supposedly slow inside midfielders began to play electrifying football, handballing slickly and running and carrying the ball at their opponents at high speed.
They were the kamikaze Kangaroos, who, by the end of the season, were one of the most dynamic and exciting sides in the AFL.
After nine wins from 10 games late in the season, they were finals-bound for the first time under Scott.
It all clicked, Swallow said, in the 17-point win against Geelong in Round 3.
"It's funny because it just sort of happened," North's skipper said.
"It wasn't anything in particular that we were told to do - it (our game style) just sort of evolved.
"To some extent, you've got to play to the strengths of the team and our strengths were we had some good runners and guys who could break the lines and it worked for us.
"Especially in that second half of the year when the confidence started to grow in the group.
"We won a couple of games in a row and it was probably the most enjoyable footy I've been involved in.
"We were beating teams, and winning convincingly, which hadn't been like that for a long time."
Suddenly, a club that for so long had fought against the perception it was downtrodden was being applauded by supporters at three-quarter time, with the result in the bag.
Young key forwards Robbie Tarrant and Lachie Hansen emerged from packs and clunked marks and defences were confounded by the Roos' frantic run.
Membership reached record levels and the club was buzzing.
"It was great to see the crowd, (enjoy it)," Swallow said.
"It was exciting to see them come and sing the (club) song at half-time, and in the last quarter."
But the campaign that gathered momentum during July and August hit a brick wall against West Coast in the elimination final - resulting in a 96-point hiding.
Thirteen players tasted finals footy at Subiaco on that steaming day.
It was game over by quarter-time, but Swallow insisted the Roos, who have the fifth youngest list in the competition, had learnt their September lesson.
Andrew Swallow and his teammates at Arden St. Picture: Tim Carrafa Source: Herald Sun
The focus over summer has been on defence.
The Kangaroos know they can score, but stopping their opponents will be a priority as they confront the most challenging fixture of any club this season.
"Just the pace of the game (against West Coast), it just showed up that we have still got a bit of work to do," Swallow said.
"Especially defensively, and we have been working hard on that, because we think when we get the ball, we are a pretty good attacking team.
"But we are still getting scored against too much."
The club remains locked in a constant battle to make a dollar and develop its supporter base in new markets, notably Hobart and Ballarat.
In his analysis of the playing list, Swallow can see a premiership in the making.
Otherwise, he would have left by now.
"You start to realise that (as a club) if we had not made the changes, it probably would have got to the point where you think, 'Actually, if I want success I'm going to have to go elsewhere'," Swallow said.
"But the club's worked pretty bloody hard on this facility (Aegis Park) with a new coach and a lot of talent around the place.
"Whether it (a flag) happens this year, next year or five or 10 years, hopefully it comes sooner rather than later.
"Hopefully, when we do get there people will give us the recognition we deserve."
According to Champion Data, West Coast was the only other 2012 finalist that matched the number of games the Roos pumped into players aged 23 and under.
But there were significant hurdles to jump last year.
A 117-point drubbing from Hawthorn tested the club's belief to the extreme.
"When you get a result like 117 points, it's a bit of a wake-up call and you think, 'I could have done that a lot better'," Swallow said.
After the defeat, which coincided with the resignation of chief executive Eugene Arocca, a "pretty dark mood" descended on the club, Swallow said.
North Melbourne champion Brent Harvey. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun
Rather than wallow in the gloom, the onballer remained positive.
"We just tried to lighten it up, make the place enjoyable for the boys to be around and just enjoy their training," Swallow said.
"We knew we still had a fair bit of work to do and we started to get a couple of wins. It just built from that.
"We probably ran out of steam towards the end of the year, but we showed when we were playing some good attacking footy that we are a pretty good side."
The man Swallow replaced as skipper, North legend Brent Harvey, said the new leader performed brilliantly on and off the field, snaring his third best-and-fairest award.
"He came on a lot better and a lot quicker than a lot of us maybe thought he would have," Harvey said.
"But to sum it up in one word, I would say he was outstanding.
"We've got myself and Drewy (Petrie) to take care of a little 'rough business', but when he needs to be firm, he is.
"He speaks well in front of the group.
"There's little things to pick up which will take him a few years, but he's done a fantastic job."
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