DANIEL Wells has never played better than he has in the past month, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says.

Wells, 28, was outstanding in North's brave 14-point loss to ladder-leader Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, finishing with 27 possessions, four clearances, three inside 50s, two score assists and a goal.

It followed a string of outstanding performances that have coincided with North skipper Andrew Swallow's absence with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Swallow was injured just after half-time in round 18 against Melbourne, when Wells was again one of the Roos' best players with 25 possessions and two goals.

Since then, the 2011 best-and-fairest winner has had 18 possessions and four goals against Geelong in round 19, 30 possessions and two goals against Adelaide in round 20 and 17 possessions and four goals against Essendon last round.

"The thing is there are very few players in the competition who can do what [Wells] does," Scott said after Saturday's game.

"But I think that he would be the first to acknowledge that he is getting great support. People who perhaps don't analyse footy well enough have said in the past, 'he doesn't do it often enough, he should do it all the time.'

"Well when … he's the one who's got to break the game open, the opposition are going to put a lot of time into (stopping) him."

As the Essendon supplements scandal continues to drag on, Scott said 10^th-placed North had not used the possibility that finishing ninth might be good enough to play finals as motivation before Saturday's game.

"I'm sick of reading about Essendon, I'm sure everyone is," Scott said vehemently.

"The disappointing thing is you stop listening, you stop reading because it just goes on and on and on. We're just all sick of it, so I'll just focus on our team and what we've got to do.

"The percentage motivation for what's happening with Essendon and potentially playing finals because of their misfortune was zero. We focus on us."

North's loss to Hawthorn was its tenth by 16 points or less this season.

Scott said the Roos' performance against the Hawks was another sign his team had a bright future ahead of it, but the loss was still incredibly frustrating.

"The bigger picture is really exciting but who wants to wait for the bigger picture in a few years time? You want it now," Scott said.

"And I thought we put ourselves in a position today to beat probably the best side in the comp and couldn't capitalise."

Scott said the Roos had shown in Swallow's absence they were assembling the midfield depth necessary to compete with the best teams.

"We're seeing Jack Ziebell and Ben Cunnington have really influential games. Andrew Swallow wasn't there, but Cunnington, Ziebell, Greenwood, Bastinac, Jacobs (performed well) – that's what you need to be a good side," Scott said.

Scott said forward Robbie Tarrant's substitution from Saturday's game was "100 per cent tactical" and expected him to play in North's clash with Collingwood next Sunday.

Leigh Adams (knee) was a late withdrawal from Saturday's game after failing a fitness test, but Scott was hopeful he too would be available to take on the Pies.