NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott is not getting carried away with his team's four-game winning streak, saying the Kangaroos will have to be at their best to beat St Kilda this Sunday.

North has resurrected its season in the past month with wins against Adelaide, Gold Coast, Essendon and Port Adelaide that have taken it from 14th on the ladder to ninth, half a game outside the eight.

Speaking at Aegis Park on Thursday, Scott said North had improved on its slow start to the season but its improvement had been gradual rather than radical, putting it down to "a more consistent effort across the board".

Scott was also extremely wary of the Saints, who won the sides' two encounters last season by 104 and 52 points, saying his respect for the 2009-10 Grand Finalists had not diminished despite their tumble down the ladder in 2011.

"We know as well as any other club that key changes in personnel can affect the way your side can perform," Scott said, referring to Lenny Hayes' absence through injury.
 
"But I still expect the 22 they put out onto the park on the weekend to be that really committed, defensively orientated side that they have been in the past."

Scott said North had struggled to penetrate the Saints' all-ground defensive pressure in recent times, so it was vital that his players "hurt" St Kilda when they had the ball this Sunday.

The other main challenge for North will be stopping St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt. The key forward has terrorised the Kangaroos' defence in recent times and last year kicked two bags of seven goals.

Scott there was not "a really obvious match-up" for Riewoldt, suggesting he would rotate his key defenders on him throughout Sunday's game.

"It's going to take more than one player (to stop Riewoldt)," he said.

"It's going to take really good overall defence from our team and a lot is going to be dictated there by our midfield. If our midfield can get on top, hopefully we can limit the supply."

Scott said a win over the Saints would not necessarily be a sign that his team was bridging the gap between it and the competition's top four sides, with North's next few rounds likely to be more revealing.
 
After the Saints, the Kangaroos will play three of the current top-four sides in five weeks - Collingwood in round 16, Carlton in round 19 and Hawthorn in round 20.

Scott said North had no immediate plans to elevate another rookie despite this week's news Sam Wright would miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

He also said North Melbourne would fully support an AFL crackdown on players staging for free kicks.

AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson told Thursday's Age the League would consider taking a harsher stance on staging after being urged to do so by some clubs.

Scott said the AFL had spoken previously about cracking down on staging and hadn't fully followed through on it, but stressed North would welcome a tougher new stance.

"I think everyone is in favour of that because one of the great things about our game is that it is a tough brutal contact sport and I think when players genuinely get hurt they go down," Scott said.

"I think it's pretty unsavoury when you see a player go down with what looks like a pretty serious injury only to see him bounce up two seconds later. So I don't think that should be a part of our game.

"If the AFL want to crack down on that, they'll have North Melbourne's full support."

An incident involving veteran North defender Brady Rawlings against Essendon in round 13 was highlighted by some commentators as an example of blatant staging that had gone unpunished. In that game, Rawlings fell to the ground in an exaggerated fashion after Bomber Angus Monfries made contact to his chest.

The Age reported the AFL Match Review Panel had considered laying a charge against Rawlings.

Scott said he had spoken to some of his players this year to discourage them from staging but had not seen the need with Rawlings.

"I didn't speak to Brady because that's not characteristic of the way Brady goes about his football," he said.

"But I have spoken to other players this year about (staging) with particular incidents."