PROUD North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says his team’s scintillating first half against Hawthorn was perhaps the best the Kangaroos have played in his nine years as coach.
North shocked everyone at Etihad Stadium on Sunday by powering to a 57-point lead by half-time, before being left two men down after third-term concussions to Shaun Higgins and Ed Vickers-Willis.
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The extra numbers on the bench helped Hawthorn fight back to within 19 points, before the Kangaroos steadied to be 28-point victors.
"It was as good footy as we’ve played in a very long time, probably in my time (as coach)," Scott said post-match.
"It wasn’t just one facet of the game – it was all of them.
"It was in the contest, and clearly we were able to generate a lot of scoring shots, and we kept a very good team to three scoring shots."
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Scott was particularly pleased with the efforts of veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein, whose form has come under much scrutiny in recent times.
"He got us going early in the game. There were a lot of players who had really good games but he was the one that gave us the impetus. That looked like the ‘Goldy’ of old," Scott said.
At three-quarter time, with Hawthorn coming home hard and the Roos seemingly dead on their feet with two players short on the bench, Scott said he told his team to attack.
"(The message was) 'Don't sit on the back foot and try to hold up.' We knew that if we just allowed Hawthorn to win the ball and go forward, their foot skills are too good, their ball movement’s too good," Scott said.
"We didn't want to be attacked for 30 minutes. We needed to get the ball in the contest and put them on the back foot.
"I thought it showed character and fight, when we were clearly running out of legs, to not only stem the tide but to push back the other way and score ourselves."
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North’s third win of the season lifted it into the top four, with a percentage break on the likes of reigning premier Richmond, Geelong, Hawthorn and Adelaide.
However, Scott said the Kangaroos’ early-season form wouldn't force him to reassess their possibilities.
"We leave the prognostications to you guys … we just continue to try and evolve and improve our game," he said.
"We’ve certainly improved our game from last year, under a bit of duress in terms of where our list is building, but there are going to be huge challenges to come for us.
"We’re trying to build a midfield, we’re trying to (develop) players in other positions (and) we’re fortunate to have a (standalone) VFL team to do that.
"But you can see the experience that’s gone out, and we’ve got to try to work really hard with the young guys to get them up to speed so that they can come in and play that style of footy that we hope becomes a bit of a trademark for us."
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Scott revealed Higgins – whose wife gave birth to their first child early on game day – was coherent post-match but had been sent to hospital for observation.
"He’s had an eventful day," Scott said.
"The early signs are promising but we won't know for sure until they've done all the necessary tests."
The Roos confirmed later on Sunday night that Higgins had been cleared of any neck fracture, but would require plastic surgery on his lip.
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The outlook was more positive for fellow concussion victim Vickers-Willis.
"He felt that he was fine but the docs ruled him out," Scott said.
Young Roo Cameron Zurhaar was reported for rough conduct on David Mirra after bumping him into the fence.
However, Scott questioned whether the fence was far enough from the boundary.
"Players have a duty of care to each other, but the AFL also has a duty of care with where fences are placed and things like that," he said.
"If that incident had happened over the boundary line, then there’d be a serious issue, but from my angle it looked like it happened inside the boundary line."
