Scott said North Melbourne’s tendency to fly under the radar was epitomised by Levi Greenwood. In just his 28th senior game, the 21-year-old was the best on ground with 39 disposals in a performance heavily praised by his coach.
“You don’t hear Levi Greenwood’s name mentioned among (Ben) Cunnington, (Ryan) Bastinac, (Jack) Trengove and (Tom) Scully,” Scott said after North Melbourne’s 10-point win over the Demons.
“But you saw from his performance tonight I thought he was a clear best on ground, just a really dominant display and he showed what a good player he’s going to be for us in the future.
“They [Melbourne] are going to be a very, very good side but we believe we are too and all we can keep doing if Melbourne are going to be the best, all we can do is keep beating them and we’ll be in a pretty good position."
North Melbourne overran the Demons despite playing most of the game with only 21 players after Leigh Harding broke his ribs.
Scott said his side showed character after adjusting to a lack of interchange rotations.
“We needed to improvise and I think there was another reason I am so proud of the boys today because they really had to fight and fight,” he said. “They had a couple of excuses to fall away but they don’t know the meaning of giving up.
"They kept fighting it out and at the start of the year we would have struggled to run out the game but it is another sign we’re improving as a team.
"One man down for the whole game, we were able to run the game out pretty strongly.”
North Melbourne finished Scott’s first season as coach in ninth position, missing out on a finals position only by percentage.
Scott said the ladder accurately reflected where the team stood in the AFL’s pecking order.
“It is a true statement, we haven’t beaten the top four sides. Until we start beating those sides or at least really challenging them, you don’t deserve to be there,” he said.
“We should enjoy the successes we’ve had this year but also be realistic about where we sit and that is ninth and I’ve said for about a month now that’s probably where we belong until we start to prove that we are finals contenders or contenders capable of winning finals.”
