Grounds for optimism at North Melbourne as emerging talents give glimpse of rosy future | Jonathan Horn

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For most of his tenure at North Melbourne, Alastair Clarkson’s eyebrows have been arched in a kind of perma-frown.The bigger the deficit, the steeper the arch.It’s not as though his team has been completely hopeless.Most of the time, they’ve tried their guts out.They’ve just been incredibly frustrating.

They’d won 11 games in three years heading into the weekend’s clash against Port Adelaide,They were 11-1-57 since Clarkson took over,In press conferences, he preaches patience, the long haul, the future,But it’s the eyebrows that keep the score – two hairy registers of shanks, turnovers and towellings,There was a three-minute patch at the end of the first half of Sunday’s 17.

11 (113) to 9,13 (67) win where the eyebrows flatlined and the Roos finally looked like a serious footy team,It netted three goals and was a snapshot of where and why there is ground for optimism – the blunt instrument of Tristan Xerri, the propulsion of Luke Davies-Uniacke, the quick and clean hands of Harry Sheezel, and the continual improvement of their crop of young, high draftees,The onslaught continued after the main break, with three more goals in 10 minutes, at which point the result was forgone,It was by no means the marquee game of a rather dubiously cherrypicked round of “rivalry” matches.

But it was crucial that North showed something,Earlier in the week the club president, Dr Sonja Hood, wrote a letter to North Melbourne members,It may as well have been addressed to Clarkson,“The message to the entire playing group this year is simple,” Hood wrote,“The ‘potential’ phase is over.

We aren’t looking for brief flashes any more.We are looking for a standard that honours the emotional and financial investment that our members and supporters make every single year.”Any of those members heading to the game via tram or train could have read extensive interviews with the North coach in both the Herald Sun and the Age.We learned that Clarkson has taken up beekeeping.We learned that in the week the Hawthorn racism scandal broke, then AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said to him, “Just talk to Dills [Andrew Dillon, AFL general counsel at the time] and all this will be resolved” – a neat encapsulation of how the AFL do business.

And he told journalist Jake Niall: “If they think someone else can be out there, [and] they’re going to do it quicker, I’m all for it.”The streetfighter who yields to no one was noticeably absent in both interviews.He sounded like a man who had mellowed, a man at peace with his bees and the realities of building a list from scratch.But Sunday was the first proper glimpse of the team he has been assuring us is ready to emerge.They’ve always had talent and spirit but at Marvel Stadium they demonstrated that they may finally be a team with a coherent system, a team that can defend, a team that can live up to what the president demands in letter form.

The next five games are against West Coast, Essendon, Carlton, Brisbane and Richmond.They’d consider themselves a chance in at least four of those, and the way Brisbane’s going they’d be half a chance in that one as well.The best football of round one came on Saturday, when seven of the leading nine teams of 2025 were scheduled to play and when, by the usual stroke of genius, there was no footy on free-to-air television.In particular, Sydney’s opening quarter was the equal of their third term the previous week, and superior to any other quarter from any other side so far this year.In method and in application, their game against Brisbane at the Gabba in August last year was instructive.

Errol Gulden notched up his usual 30 or so touches that day, most of them perfectly weighted and incisive.He was the key to their vast improvement in the final third of the 2025 season.They operated at a totally different tempo to how they’d played up until that point under Dean Cox, and for much of the John Longmire era.It was bolder and more ballistic, and it was all on display at the SCG again on Saturday night.But they’d trade that win for a fit and available Gulden, whose shoulder was yanked out of its socket.

He was coming off the best pre-season of his life, was in slashing form in all the scratch matches, completely obliterated Carlton to kick off the season and backed it up against the reigning premiers on Saturday.Gulden is training to be a pilot.He has the spatial awareness, the even temperament and the precision I want in my airmen.“You just can’t think about footy when you’re up in a plane – otherwise you’d be in a bit of strife,” he told AFL.com’s Cal Twomey.

But he might be in a bit of strife now.And presumably he won’t be practising take-offs or lacing out full forwards for a while.
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Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for caramelised white chocolate and rhubarb cheesecake | The sweet spot

It’s often my own impatience that forces me to make no-bake cheesecakes over baked ones. They’re not at all as faffy, though it’s pretty hard to beat the lighter, silkier texture you get with a baked version plus the extra effort is worth it on a special occasion such as Mother’s Day. I’ve sweetened the filling for this one with caramelised white chocolate – it brings a beautiful, creamy, dulce de leche-type caramel flavour that even the biggest white chocolate haters should enjoy. If making your own caramelised white chocolate feels a step too far, however, just buy bars of blond chocolate instead. Top with gently poached rhubarb for a pop of colour and to cut through the richness

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Noma chef resigns amid allegations of physical abuse of staff

René Redzepi, the head chef and co-founder of Noma, has announced his resignation from his internationally acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant following allegations he physically abused his staff.Redzepi had been facing protests in Los Angeles before a four-month pop-up that launched this week. His resignation on Wednesday comes after the New York Times detailed allegations of physical and psychological abuse, including claims that he “punched employees in the face, jabbed them with kitchen implements and slammed them against walls”.He wrote in an Instagram story: “I’ve decided to step away and allow our extraordinary leaders to now guide the restaurant into its next chapter.”Redzepi said the recent weeks had “brought attention and important conversations about our restaurant, industry and my past leadership”, writing: “I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years

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Light red wines for spring drinking

Can wine ever be good for you? The question has surely occurred to most of us after a night on the chȃteau de migraine, especially if we’ve read the increasingly dire warnings on alcohol consumption. Still, as with chocolate, a lot depends on what type of alcohol you drink. After all, a 90% cocoa solids situation is probably going to do less harm than, say, a family tub of Celebrations, and, while all alcohol is, I hate to break it to you, alcohol, there are definitely better choices you can make.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link

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Rachel Roddy’s recipe for risotto in bianco | A kitchen in Rome

Parmigiano reggiano, grana padano, lodigiano, trentingrana and the other members of the grana-type cheese family (there are many, and all are worth seeking out) are far from cheap. Which is why it is important to use every last bit, including the rind with the last few millimetres of cheese still attached. That functions as a sort of highly flavoured and fatty stock cube that can be added to soups and stews. The best place to keep your precious rinds is in a plastic bag or airtight container in the freezer, which also preserves flavour and stops them drying out, until they’re pulled out and added directly to whatever needs a boost, or to make one of the nicest, most delicately flavoured and cheesy broths, which in turn makes a lovely risotto.I have written about risotto many times here, with each version a new favourite, and providing lessons in a dish that, regardless of how much I learn and practise, I am always chasing: the right proportions of rice to broth, as well as a pleasing consistency and texture

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‘Highly problematic behavior’: Noma residency in LA starts with PR crisis

It was always going to be an indulgence for René Redzepi, the Danish-Albanian chef of Noma fame, to bring his exacting, innovative vision of haute cuisine to Los Angeles and spend several weeks tickling the palates of well-heeled diners at a hilltop estate once dubbed “the most beautiful home in Hollywood”.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The timing has certainly been unfortunate, since the US is now fighting a destabilizing war in the Middle East and food prices are climbing so steeply that many ordinary Americans can no longer afford to eat at McDonald’s, much less contemplate the counterintuitive delights of tacinga cactus, bougainvillea petals, mealworms and giant tuna eyes

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Before sunrise: while Sydney sleeps, suhoor meals attract a lively social scene during Ramadan

Suhoor – the pre-dawn meal – is typically shared at home. But in Sydney customers also queue outside food trucks, restaurants and cafes with extended trading hoursIt’s just after midnight in an industrial courtyard in Auburn in Sydney’s west and a glow of string lights and the constant sizzle of a grill signal one of Ramadan’s newest late-night rituals. A food truck specialising in halal steak sandwiches has attracted a small crowd and a queue begins to form.The rest of the city is largely asleep but here the courtyard hums with life as young Muslims arrive in waves after evening taraweeh prayers, chatting and checking their phones as the clock edges closer to suhoor – the pre-dawn meal eaten during Ramadan before the day’s fast begins.Inside The Meat Up, a Lebanese husband-and-wife duo move quickly over the grill