Loss cuts Laidley deep

A dejected Dean Laidley has expressed his strong disappointment after North Melbourne was bundled out in the first week of the finals by a resurgent Sydney outfit in front of a small crowd at ANZ Stadium.

Laidley's men fell away badly after being the dominant side for the bulk of the opening two quarters before a season filled with so much promise came to an abrupt end on enemy territory.

"Pretty simple, in the first half in the contested ball (statistics) we were probably four in front (but in) the second (it was) 50 to 70," Laidley said when asked to account for his side's capitulation.

"You can't do that against any team in the competition let alone the Swans and then basically we couldn't get our hands on the ball in tight and from there it breaks down."

"If you can't get your hands on the ball and get some chains of possession going it falls down pretty quickly."

But while Laidley conceded the final stages of the 2008 campaign, which ended in consecutive defeats to Geelong, Port Adelaide and Sydney, failed to meet the club's lofty expectations, he believes the North Melbourne faithful have plenty of reason for optimism next season.

Asked to assess the progress made this season following on from last year's surprise preliminary final appearance, Laidley said: "I actually think, if you're talking about (winning) premierships - and let's face it that's what we're here to do - I would have thought we're closer this year than what we were last year."

"When we walked off after the preliminary final (against Port Adelaide) I thought we were a ways off it but the development over the summer and through the year of the younger guys that I've already spoken about, and with what we've probably got to come into the side ... it's been a real step forward for us."

He added: "We'll sit down and we'll have a review, we've played some pretty good footy at certain stages during the year, other times we were ordinary."

"(But there) are some really positive signs, the combination of Lindsay (Thomas) and Matty Campbell inside our forward 50's been super and to get nearly 60 goals from them (was pleasing), but their probably last four weeks has been a bit flat."

"Also to find a player like (Gavin) Urquhart, I think David Hale's taken another real step in his career, Ben Ross is in the wings and he probably wouldn't have gone out of the side if he didn't get injured."

"We've certainly found another ruckman in (Todd) Goldstein … and (Lachlan) Hansen came in and did some pretty good things for us, so outside of that side tonight you've probably got five or six kids that we think can have a really big influence next year or continue to have a big influence and you'll have some of those guys turning into men."