NORTH Melbourne's 52-point upset of St Kilda was crucial for building belief among the players that the club's regeneration is on track, Kangaroos coach Brad Scott says.
The Roos overcame a wasteful first half to dispose of the Saints with surprising ease and notch their first win of the season, in a result that was worth more than just four premiership points.
"Reward for effort is always important," Scott told reporters post-match.
"When you keep getting effort without the result it's very difficult for your players to keep believing that what they're doing will eventually lead to success.
"We faced that challenge last year staring down the barrel of 0-5, even though our effort was really good. It's hard to stand in front of them and say, 'Look, persist. The tide will turn.'
WATCH: Brown hits the Saints for six
"We’re clearly building with the generation of our list, but if we keep getting that sort of effort in the contest, then I think we can be competitive against most teams."
North should have opened up an early buffer but let itself down badly with some poor set shots, and then so too did St Kilda, but with the scores level at 2.10 (22) each at half-time, Scott felt his team just needed to persevere.
"The most pleasing thing was our consistent effort," he said.
"We clearly didn’t have the polish we would’ve liked, but the hardest thing in footy, in my view, is to do enough to generate shots. It’s a better problem to have than not being able to generate shots in the first place …
"We didn’t need to change too much in terms of the structure. We thought we’ve just got to persist and keep generating those shots."
WATCH: Brad Scott's full post-match media conference
The coach singled out former Hawk Jed Anderson for giving the Kangaroos "real impetus" early and again at the start of the third quarter.
Scott also praised the six-goal performance of emerging star Ben Brown and the efforts of Ben Jacobs to nullify Saints playmaker Seb Ross.
Jacobs was sent to Ross instead of Jack Steven because North believes Ross is an underrated player who is crucial to the Saints' running brigade.
Scott said the Roos had tried to "clone" Jacobs last year when he was sidelined with injury, assigning his shutdown role to players who weren’t quite ready for the challenge. Having Jacobs back "dramatically" improves the Roos’ midfield, Scott added.
WATCH: Jacobs brings Roos fans to their feet
The coach was also excited about No.4 draft pick Luke Davies-Uniacke, who gathered 16 possessions (nine contested), four clearances and five tackles.
"Luke Davies-Uniacke showed that he’s going to be a very good player," Scott said.
"I, more than anyone, have tried to hose down expectation and hype around Luke, but the way he played today, the way he tackled, his composure under pressure.
"And we threw him in against a midfield of real class in guys like Jack Steven and Seb Ross, David Armitage, and he acquitted himself really well for a second-game player."
At the MCG next Saturday, North Melbourne will attempt to continue its winning run against Melbourne, which stands at 17 – the longest active streak in the AFL.
