The Tigers led 83-0 at one stage and careered away for a 23.24 (162) to 5.7 (37) win. 

The home team had targeted a lightning start.

“Yeah absolutely, that’s what we’ve been focusing on, the past five or six weeks we haven’t been getting off to the best,” teenager Rhys King said.

The Tigers named King their best after bagging his beat haul – at any level – with four goals.

North is a finals contender, but it was made to look anything but by the league’s best team.

By the 25-minute mark, the Tigers led by 57 points and the visitors had just one forward 50 entry.

Now North was without its best player in co-coach Chris Schmidt and only representative player this year in Lachie Taylor-Nugent, but the Tigers were missing former AFL stars Daniel Cross and Dean Polo.

The Tigers’ young guns were excellent with Tom O’Brien, Jake Gaynor and Jessy Wilson joining King as standouts.

Crafty forward Wilson did finish the match though with an injured ankle.

Veteran Shaun Daly just continues to rack up possessions, while Elliott Powell’s return to form after a disrupted start to the year is enormous for the Tigers’ chances of regaining the flag.

He kicked four goals and it’s his combination of pace and kicking power which makes him so dangerous and difficult to stop.

Albury remains undefeated with a percentage of 243.22, almost 60 ahead of second-placed Wodonga Raiders.

The Tigers have a stack of top-line profile players with the batch of young guns complementing the seasoned campaigners.

But it’s their attitude which also plays a major role in the decade-long success.

“Michael Duncan chased a player down, even though we were up by a fair bit,” King said.

“If was like our half-forward to their half-forward, so it was a long chase and good that he still had that energy.”

For North, the less said the better with the club nominating veteran Dan Leslie as the best.

The Hoppers are focused on the season-defining game against Lavington on August 4.

But Schmidt’s broken finger, in particular, is a major concern and while he’s not guaranteed to play, the Hoppers need him desperately.