- Fans scratch their heads over the extra hand in the photo
- The angle of the photo left out his teammate Toby Pink.
- North Melbourne celebrated first win of the season
Football fans have been left baffled by a bizarre photo capturing North Melbourne players celebrating their first win of the 2024 season.
The Kangaroos broke their duck on Saturday night with a thrilling nine-point win over West Coast at Optus Stadium.
North Melbourne led by 33 points at the start of the fourth quarter, lost the lead and then regained it with the final two goals of the game.
It marked the club’s first win since beating Gold Coast in the final round last year and snapped an 11-match losing streak.
A photo taken by photographer Paul Kane captured the moment Aidan Corr and Charlie Comben hugged each other after the siren, but eagle-eyed fans spotted a fifth hand involved in the hug.
A photo taken after the match between Aidan Corr and Charlie Comben has left fans perplexed
The Kangaroos broke their duck on Saturday night with a thrilling nine-point victory.
The photo, which the Kangaroos posted on social media, had people scratching their heads.
‘Okay, am I the only one who sees the extra hand?’ posted a user
“Really creepy,” said another.
“Well that’s unfair to everyone else if Charlie has three arms,” a third joked.
Another photo from a different angle shows that the hand belongs to teammate Toby Pink, who was behind Comben.
Despite the win, North Melbourne remains a heavy favorite to claim this year’s wooden spoon.
They managed just three wins last year, two in 2022, four in 2021 and three in the shortened 2020 campaign.
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson, who guided Hawthorn to four flags, is confident the Kangaroos are laying the foundation for future success, contrary to the belief of critics who say the rebuild has stalled.
Another photo from a different angle shows that the hand belongs to teammate Toby Pink.
“Those who comment on the game do so from afar,” Clarkson said.
‘They don’t know the inner workings of our football club or what we’re trying to do.
“We will make decisions that are best for the long term of the football club, and we will look for different things, rather than necessarily winning.”
‘Everyone else just looks at the win-loss column.
“Our wins are the amount of rookies we have, the amount of playing time, the exposure, they have.”
Clarkson insisted that developing the club’s youth as part of a long-term plan was far more important than loading up on more mature players for short-term success.
“We could very easily go a different route and recruit some more experienced players and play against more experienced players,” Clarkson said.
“But in the long term, for the football club, we believe that investing in youth is what will allow us to move up the table faster at some point.”
‘And we’re glad to be taking that path. It’s a difficult path. But a lot of clubs have been there before.”
Clarkson highlighted Carlton, Melbourne and his former team Hawthorn as clubs that had climbed the ladder following similar footsteps to the Kangaroos.
“When you do it that way, when you climb, it gives you the opportunity to hold it and stay there for a period of time,” he said.
“That’s what we’re trying to do.”
North Melbourne will look to make it two wins in a row when they take on Collingwood at Marvel Stadium next Sunday.
