{"id":4788,"date":"2026-05-05T01:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T01:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/4788\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T01:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T01:41:10","slug":"north-melbourne-young-gun-colby-mckercher-on-watch-after-bad-habit-uncovered-no-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/4788\/","title":{"rendered":"North Melbourne young gun Colby McKercher on \u2018watch\u2019 after bad habit uncovered: \u2018No contest\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Channel 7 commentator Kane Cornes is putting North Melbourne<\/a>\u2019s Colby McKercher on \u201cwatch\u201d after the young gun\u2019s alarming statistic against Geelong<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

McKercher has quickly established himself as an elite player at the Kangaroos, playing 47 games since being drafted with pick No.2 in the 2023 draft.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Cornes warns McKercher over contested ball<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

Playing predominantly in a half-back role, the 21-year-old has impressed with his piercing left foot. But more recently he has been spending more time forward of the ball.<\/p>\n

Against the Cats on Saturday, McKercher finished with 23 touches, two goals and 10 score involvements to be among his side\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

But he was also the only player on the ground to not record a single contested possession.<\/p>\n

\"ColbyColby McKercher failed to record a single contested possession against Geelong. Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

Across the season, he has recorded just 24 contested possessions from eight games.<\/p>\n

While McKercher is primarily an outside player, Cornes said he needs to get his hands dirty if he is to take the next step.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next one I want to identify, who I think is getting into bad habits, is no contest Colby,\u201d Cornes said on The Agenda Setters.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Colby McKercher is a player who I rate highly, so much talent … he did not have a contested possession against a side like Geelong in Geelong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to win your own ball. He\u2019s the only player on the ground that didn\u2019t have a contested possession from 24.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Agenda Setters host Craig Hutchison interjected, saying McKercher\u2019s role is to receive the ball as their best user.<\/p>\n

\u201cYep, no doubt about that. That is his role. He is their best user. But does Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera go into the contest? Does Nick Dacos go into the contest? Does Harry Sheezel go into the contest? Yes, they do. They\u2019re also there as the distributor and the weapon,\u201d Cornes continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo just don\u2019t get into bad habits. Get those habits out of you.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can accept it now at this stage of your career but you don\u2019t want to be seeing this in two, three years\u2019 time where he\u2019s taking kick-outs, getting handball receives, uncontested marks and when the ball is there or a tackle is there to be laid, he does not want to go and seek any form of contact whatsoever.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo no contest Colby is on watch and I hope he can get that out of his game quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cornes went on to say it\u2019s up to the coaching staff to improve his contested work at training.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to actually get in the contest at training so that when you\u2019re in that situation, you feel comfortable to accept some contact because right now I don\u2019t feel like he\u2019s comfortable in the contest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Port Adelaide champion also praised Harry Sheezel, and coach Alastair Clarkson, for altering his game style to become more dangerous moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think that\u2019s a credit to Alastair Clarkson and also Harry Sheezel, which is exactly what I was calling for last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to have that respect from Chris Scott to say, \u2018jeez, you\u2019ve changed your game, that\u2019s where you\u2019re getting your disposals, we\u2019re going to deploy a tag on you now because we\u2019re worried about your ball use\u2019 is excellent.<\/p>\n

\u201cCredit to the club and Harry for the work that he\u2019s put in.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AFL superstar urged to change \u2018awful\u2019 habit immediately<\/p>\n

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3 min read<\/p>\n

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