Stevo's Sting: Wooden spoon would be perfect for Roos

North Melbourne is suddenly staring at its first wooden spoon since 1972.

A whopping 45 years since the Kangas finished last with a 1-21 record, they are likely to prop up with the ladder with a 4-18 finish.

You might think such predictions are premature, but the fixture suggests otherwise.

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North has Melbourne (Hobart), Collingwood (Etihad), Hawthorn (Launceston), St Kilda (Etihad) and Brisbane (Gabba) on the run home.

North is firmly in "joey" mode, picking kids with an eye to next year and beyond. It's shrewd list management.

Fighting performances like Saturday's loss to Essendon, and a 0-5 record on the final stretch would be a perfect result.

If we get to the final round and the Kangas and Lions are both four wins each, the loser will get the spoon and first pick in the draft.

It is sure to revive memories of the Kreuzer Cup if we get that far, but the Lions have little choice but to go all out and win.

On their home deck, the Lions simply can't mess with their fans ... and need to go into 2018 with momentum ... even if it spoils their argument for a priority pick. The club just desperately needs wins.

North can afford to play kids, trial players in different positions and finish last. The Shinboners have enough credits to expend a few on some late season "experimentation".

Everyone's got to suffer the pain at some stage, and Kangaroos fans are educated enough to see the benefits of a rare spoon ... even it will momentarily dent the pride.

All will be forgotten on draft night when the Roos read out the number one pick.

From here, there is no point finishing second last, bottom out properly. It's not tanking, everyone out on the park tries.

The No.1 pick could help get a trade deal done for Josh Kelly, it also would give the Kangas bargaining power, and a bit of fear factor, with first pick in the pre-season draft.

Uncontracted guns rarely slip through to the pre-season draft for nothing these days, but the threat of it happening has got to help.

It's not tanking, because the players always try, but it's smart to shuffle things around, play the "joeys", keep an eye on the future ... and get pick one.

For so long the Kangas have been caught in the middle reaches, it was once called "Death Valley" from a draft order perspective.

The grass is greener with pick one. The Kangas deserve it.