As high performance manager with the West Australian Football Commission, Haines had overseen the pathway for under-18 players to progress to the AFL but also harboured aspirations of a similar role at club level.
He had never spoken with Scott, who called to gauge his interest in the player development manager position created in the restructure of North's football department.
"It was perfect timing and certainly something that I'd been working towards," Haines said. "The role itself is a no-brainer really. It was a natural step for me.
"As soon as I actually sat down and spoke about it with Darren (Crocker, senior assistant coach), Brad and Donald (McDonald, chief of football), it was pretty clear it was a great step and great environment and a pretty impressive group of people.
"It was a pretty easy decision in the end."
Haines accepted the position in October, ahead of 23 West Australian players joining AFL clubs through the national, pre-season and rookie drafts and Brandon Matera and David Swallow signing with the Gold Coast franchise.
Seventy-four players had been recruited across the previous three years, with Nic Naitanui (West Coast), Stephen Hill (Fremantle) and Daniel Rich (Brisbane Lions) the high-profile graduates of 2008.
Western Australia then went through the 2009 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships undefeated.
Haines, who spent almost three years with the WAFC, said individual player development, coach education and promoting a 'train to play' philosophy were key focuses of his time there.
He saw that success in those areas would serve him well at North, which has 33 players with less than 50 games' experience and 15 of those yet to make their AFL debut.
"That was one of the real attractions to the role," Haines said of the young list.
"In WA I was working with 17, 18, 19-year-olds who were aspiring to move into the AFL. [I'm now working] with players who are of similar age but are in the system and are looking to make the next step in their development - so to have them play consistent AFL footy.
"It's not going to happen overnight," he added. "It is a long-term strategy and a long-term opportunity for the club but I think with the structures and processes in place, we can see some real gains from this group over the next two to four years."
Haines said that in terms of personnel and resources, North was now on par with every other club in the competition.
Significant improvements and investment in its sports science and medical set-up has gone hand-in-hand with the club's continued commitment to player welfare and its development academy.
Haines has taken charge of the academy, which fosters those players who have been at North for four years or less, and will work closely with development coaches John Lamont and Jason Lappin.
Lamont and Lappin will be aligned to VFL affiliates North Ballarat and Werribee, and the North Melbourne-listed players who will regularly represent those clubs as they push for senior opportunities.
"Depending on whether they're playing senior football and are a first-year player and second-year player, or in their fourth year and playing majority of senior football, they'll have a split between academy responsibilities and line coaching responsibilities," Haines said.
"Through all AFL lists, that fourth year is really crucial in terms of will they stay on the list or won't they. We think that if we can give them that bit of extra tuition and extra support in that fourth year, it can only help. That's a really strong part of Brad's philosophy as well."
Haines said he was thrilled with North's selection of West Australian key forward prospect Aaron Black with its third pick in November's national draft, and that his staff hoped to develop Sudanese rookie Majak Daw as quickly as possible.
