Despite only four fewer possessions, seven fewer inside 50s and five fewer clearances, the Roos were outscored 15 goals to seven after quarter time in a lop-sided contest controlled by the Magpies.
“Our desire to want to handball when we were moving the ball quickly and we had free targets ahead, or we had space ahead, was really disappotnting,” Laidley said.
“We addressed it at each of the breaks but we continued to do to it. In both our second and third quarters we ended up with more handballs than kicks.”
North ended the night with 41 more handballs than kicks and had 173 handball receives – 31 more than the Magpies.
Turnovers also hurt with Collingwood scoring 13.8 of its 19.11 directly from North Melbourne mistakes.
“You can’t question our endeavour…absolutely you can’t,” he said.
Laidley said Daniel Pratt, who limped from the field in the opening minute of the second term, was likely to miss at least two weeks with a “tweaked” medial ligament.
After losing Brent Harvey to a serious elbow injury the week before, the North coach was left to count the cost.
“It’s getting a bit monotonous,” he said the weekly injury toll.
“There’s been one or two a week and he’s (Pratt) tweaked his medial ligament, so he’ll probably be (out) a couple of weeks.”
The Roo coach expected livewire forward Matt Campbell to return to next to take on Port Adelaide, while rating wingman Daniel Wells a 50-50 chance to tackle the Power.
