But amid the rubble of his side's disappointing second-half fadeout, there were some positives for the first-year coach.
Leigh Adams, playing just his 12th game of AFL football, showed plenty for the Kangas in a game where kicks were hard to win and contests were willing.
His 23-possession effort against the Swans was not only a career-high for the former rookie-listed midfielder, but featured an impressive 13 contested possessions.
That was more than any other player in Saturday's clash with the Swans and five more than his nearest teammate.
He admitted attacking the footy - and winning more of it - had been an emphasis after what he labeled as a below-par start to the season.
"The first four weeks probably haven't been to the standard that I would have liked them to have been at, but today's probably a step in the right direction," Adams told kangaroos.com.au after the loss.
"Hopefully from there I can continue to build on that.
"I've been trying to play my role and trying to put on some pressure but I just needed to get a bit more of the footy, and today I was able to do that.
"Hopefully I can still keep my pressure up and still get the footy in the weeks to come."
The Swans finished over the top of North in the Etihad Stadium clash but Adams was one of the few Roos to be going as strongly in the second half as in the first, collecting the bulk of his possessions after the main break.
The 22-year-old is among the new crop of midfielders Scott hopes will take the club to its next premiership.
And while Saturday's 40-point loss was a bump in the road, Adams believes his club is on the right track.
"From a team perspective we've still got to go back to the drawing board because we've obviously still got a bit of work to do," he said.
"Our game plan is working really well; we're getting the shots on goal [but] we've just got to make the most of our opportunities.
"We matched it with them in that first half, and the way we played in that first half we probably should have been a couple more goals in front.
"In the end, that second half that we dished up probably wasn't acceptable. They're a pretty match-hardened team and that's probably what we've got to aspire to get to."
