Round one must seem like a lifetime ago for North Melbourne and Gold Coast.

 

Almost four months after both teams started their 2018 campaigns in Cairns, there were no monsoonal conditions under the Etihad Stadium roof, nor was there another SUNS upset, as the Kangaroos eased to a comfortable 37-point victory on Sunday.

 

North Melbourne's 14.11 (95) to 8.10 (58) win kept Brad Scott's side within touching distance of the top eight, extending Gold Coast's winless run to 10 matches.

 

However, they hardly had everything their own way in a trying battle.

 

Ben Brown had threatened to break the game open in its early stages, stretching his lead in the Coleman Medal race to seven goals with a haul of four majors for the afternoon.

 

The lanky North Melbourne forward stalked everything in his vicinity, slotting three goals in the first quarter in an ominous sign of things to come.

 

But the visitors soon clicked into gear, with captain Steven May giving 100-gamer Rory Thompson a chop-out on Brown and cutting all of North's avenues to goal in the process.

 

As a result, Gold Coast nearly made the hosts regret their early inefficiency.

 

The SUNS flirted with a legitimate fightback after quarter-time against a sleepy Kangaroos outfit barely able, or perhaps willing, to move into second gear.

 

But further reducing an 11-point half-time deficit appeared dependent on May, who limped to the bench on the stroke of half-time with a hip injury and looked far from comfortable upon the resumption of play.

Frustrated by the setback, May's strike to the ribs of Shaun Higgins resulted in a costly free kick and goal as North Melbourne regained control of the game in the third term.

 

It was one of a number of off-the-ball incidents involving Higgins, who still managed 26 disposals and a goal despite being the recipient of a heavy Alex Sexton tag throughout the afternoon.

 

Turnovers and sloppy decision-making errors had crept into North Melbourne's game in the second quarter, but once they were ironed out there was only ever going to be one winner.

 

The Kangaroos kicked five goals to one in the third quarter to eventually put breathing space on the SUNS, before Majak Daw's late party tricks sealed the result.

 

They subsequently finish the weekend just 2.1 per cent behind the eighth-placed Hawks, though they might still hope that round one defeat doesn't come back to bite them.

  

NORTH MELBOURNE ​4.2​7.4​12.6​14.11 (95)

GOLD COAST ​​​1.0​5.5​6.7​8.10 (58)

 

North Melbourne: Brown 4, Daw 2, Ahern 2, Higgins, Clarke, Jacobs, Turner, Ziebell, Goldstein

Gold Coast: Wright, Martin, Crossley, Young, Holman, Miller, Sexton, Witts

 

North Melbourne: Thompson, Cunnington, Higgins, Jacobs, Ahern, Brown

Gold Coast: May, Miller, Lyons, Martin

 

North Melbourne: Zurhaar (foot)

Gold Coast: Nil

 

REPORTS: Nil

 

Umpires: Deboy, Gavine, Hosking

 

Official crowd: 14,389 at Etihad Stadium