North Melbourne coach David Noble has sent a stern warning to his players following Friday's embarrassing 128-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.
The Kangaroos were smashed across the board during the Good Friday showcase, with Dogs forward Josh Bruce booting 10 goals in the affair.
The loss places Noble with an 0-3 start to his tenure at Arden Street, a campaign that follows an off-season that saw a total of 13 players delisted after a 17th-placed finish.
With the axe still sharp, Noble warned his players that the chopping block remains in play should they fail to reach expectations.
“We have to come to play every single week. We can’t be inconsistent for our fans. We can’t be inconsistent to ourselves and pick and choose when we want to come and play,” Noble said, per Fox Footy.
SEE ALSO: Cats name debutant for Easter Monday clash
“I’m annoyed. I want to win. As I said last week, I am not here just to have 12 months of development, so the expectation is if you are playing this level of footy you come to play every week.
“And if you don’t come, that comes with consequences either in selection or at the end of the year.
“The players have got a pretty clear idea what that actually looks like and we have not been able to deliver that so we need to go away and assess that ourselves as a coaching group and as a group (of) players and remain really calm and really clear on what we need to deliver.”
North booted just two of the final 20 goals scored in Friday's loss, with the Bulldogs running home winners with in the 167-39 shellacking.
The Dogs had 10 different goal-scorers, with Bruce, Aaron Naughton and Tim English all feasting on an undermanned Kangaroos defence.
North will be looking to open their account for the season when they host Adelaide at Marvel Stadium in Round 4.