Everyone is barracking for him to make it back. Within North Melbourne, there's no question that Majak, has left a sizeable hole in a disappointing team that has been well below its 2018 standards. Daw's absence from a side that hasn't met expectations poses two questions. One is the pure football impact of not having an athletic key defender, albeit one who had only established himself in that position during 2018. The second query is the impact his episode had on the morale or mindset at North Melbourne, which is far harder to measure. The football question has a clear cut answer. Daw's absence has been significant to North's decline, since it has had a major flow-on effect on team performance.

Critiques of the Roos in 2019 have focused, rightly, on the questionable output of those they've gained in trades (none of the acquisitions providing what was needed). What shouldn't be undersold is the impact of the players they've lost. The loss of Daw been compounded by the retirement of Jarrad Waite, whose ability to move laterally - fly at angles, recover and provide a supple target - made straight-leading, meat-and-three-vegetable key forward Ben Brown more dangerous. As North people acknowledge, subtracting Daw and Waite and even midfielder Ben Jacobs, is not sufficient excuse for what has been served up this year. That Brad Scott asked the players for a more aggressive tackling effort before their sole victory (over Adelaide) underscored that there's been a lack of defensive ferocity. In 2018, Daw was rated as the AFL's fourth best key defender, under Champion Data's ratings system, in what was a surprising finding. The top ranked key defender was Harris Andrews of the Brisbane Lions, with the game's most distinguished and celebrated key backs, Jeremy McGovern and Alex Rance, filling the second and third places respectively.

The ratings measure the quality of a player's work, not simply the volume. If Champion Data's ranking points are akin to political polls, the ratings are comparable to focus groups that delve more deeply into what the voters think. Overall, Daw was the equal 83rd rated player in the entire AFL in his transformational 2018. At North, this placed him behind only three players: Ben Cunnington, Shaun Higgins and Todd Goldstein. Majak Daw battles it out at training last month. Credit:AAP He led the club in spoils (5.1) per game, grabbed 52 intercept marks from his 18 matches, with 30 of those marks contested (second behind J.McGovern in the AFL), while his kicking efficiency was a highly respectable 76 percent. North defended relatively well in 2018, conceding an average of 81 points per game. This year, the dam has burst and they've conceded a tick under 100 points per game, ranked 17th. Up to round six, only the dismal Demons have defended (slightly) worse.

The Daw-less North have given up 137 points from centre bounces in their six matches, the most of any team. If much of this failure stems from the lack of support for the indefatigable Cunnington in the middle, the loss of Majak has opened the door, to so speak, for the opposition to score from those clearances, too. While the old stalwarts of the defence, Robbie Tarrant and Scott Thompson, have held up reasonably well in the siege, North aren't getting the same rebound, intercepting or halving of contests that Daw provided. The advent of the six, six, six rule has exacerbated the absence of Daw. So, they've missed Majak the footballer. Who would have thought this 12 months ago? It is much harder to gauge the holistic impact of the traumatic Daw episode upon the players, coaches and staff. As North insiders note, if there was a pall cast over the club by the incident, then his rapid recovery should be a spur. The Kangaroos say Daw is determined to make it back, the fractures to his pelvis having healed. He started moving on a weight-bearing Alt G machine, moved to running and this week took the large step of completing the warm up at training.