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Live sport on SN this weekendWhy McKercher turned down Tassie opportunity to remain a Roo
SEN • August 15th, 2025 6:45 pm
Despite the impending inclusion of Tasmania into the AFL, North Melbourne back flanker and Tassie-born star Colby McKercher has opted to extend his contract to 2028.
Having won just four games in 2025, the Kangaroos’ struggles have been incredibly well documented, however McKercher’s form has continued to prove a shining light.
Averaging 23 disposals and just under 400 metres gained per game, the 20-year-old has developed into one of the competition’s most premium ball movers since finding his home on the back flank.
Ahead of North Melbourne’s clash with Richmond in Hobart, McKercher disclosed that the decision to re-sign was a no-brainer.
“It was pretty simple for me,” McKercher told SEN Tassie.
“I’ve been loving the club, the people here are great, I love the playing group and obviously we’re in pursuit of getting up there on top of the ladder.
“That hasn’t come without its challenges, and I’m sure there’s going to be plenty more, but we all have a common goal to get back into finals footy.
“I have a strong belief that we can do that, so for me quite simply it was a bit of a no-brainer to re-sign because I’ve just been enjoying my time here so much.”
Signing until the end of 2028, the Tasmanian-born star will be under contract with North Melbourne throughout the Devils’ recruitment phase and inaugural AFL season, ruling out the prospect of joining the side as a marquee player.
That being said, McKercher hasn’t rejected the idea long term.
“I didn’t really think about the Tassie stuff too much,” he revealed.
“It was (more so), what’s important for me now and that was being here. I can’t say where I’m going to be in 10 years’ time, but all I can say now is that I just love my time at the Roos.
“(I) really have a strong desire to help get this footy club back to finals footy. That’s really all my mindset was over that whole thing.”
Speaking on North Melbourne’s lack of success over his career thus far, McKercher thinks that the Kangaroos are not far away from turning around their misfortunes, with a young group all aligning in their motivation to return to finals football.
“I definitely don’t think we’re far off at all,” he said.
“It probably doesn’t feel like that way – the last month we haven’t probably played up to the standard we would have liked, but we had a middle block midway through the year where we were extremely competitive.
“A few of those games, they were another bounce away from us, one kick could have changed the whole game, going down by a goal or two.
“Unfortunately, the Hawthorn game set us back a bit, and since then our form hasn’t been quite as good, but hopefully this weekend we can get back to winning ways.
“As I said before, we were so close to winning a lot of those games midway through the season.
“Another year of experience and another year of some hard work and I think our talent as a group will definitely be able to string together a lot more wins this season.”
North Melbourne will play their final game in Hobart this Sunday.
