NORTH Melbourne's administration has delivered spectacularly this off-season, and now it's time for the players to stand up, senior midfielder Daniel Wells says.
Already this month, North has bolstered its coaching staff by signing Sydney Swans assistant Leigh Tudor, Carlton assistant Gavin Brown and former Melbourne Storm tackling coach John Donehue.
The Roos also convinced Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling to run the club's leadership program and – and in perhaps the biggest coup of all – beat a host of clubs to sign Geoff Walsh as their football director.
"The club obviously has been pretty aggressive with the coaching staff and the off-field stuff, so they've done well," Wells said in Dublin on Wednesday.
"We've got to make sure we complement them now on the field and that's what really counts.
"They've set up around us as best they can, as they've always tried to do, but obviously this year they've really stepped it up again.
"So as a playing group we'll head away to Utah in a month and a bit and just (train) as hard as we can, to make sure we keep improving because it's what the game's all about."
Wells said a repeat of the Roos' 10th-place 2013 finish would not be tolerated next season, with a finals appearance the only acceptable return.
North's 2013 season floundered on a scarcely believable string of narrow losses, but Wells said the Kangaroos' inability to close out those games meant they had finished where they deserved.
"We just want to make sure that we take out all those moments where you need that bit of luck," Wells said.
"You're going to need it at stages but a lot of times we relied on it too much and it was our own fault."
Wells said it was exciting respected football people such as Walsh, Tudor, Brown and Ling wanted to join North, and that a player of the ilk of St Kilda star Nick Dal Santo was considering a move to Aegis Park.
"It's a credit to the club, the people that want to come here – and not only coaching staff and administrators, but players as well," he said.
"I remember four or five years ago pretty much no one was seeking to come to the Kangas.
"At the moment you can just hear through the grapevine players are looking forward to maybe getting across to us. They can see where the club's going, but there is still a lot of hard work to do."
Wells captained Australia for the first time on Wednesday in a practice match against an Irish college team at Dublin's Parnell Park.
The Australians ran out comfortable 39-point winners, with their forwards regularly finding the back of the net for goals.
Australian coach Michael O'Loughlin told AFL.com.au he was happy with how his players were adjusting to the round ball used in the International Rules series, but acknowledged they still had work to do on their defence ahead of Saturday's first Test against Ireland in Cavan.
West Coast midfielder Sharrod Wellingham played the second half of Wednesday's game after arriving in Dublin the night before.
Newly signed Sydney Swans spearhead Lance Franklin did not play but joined his teammates in Dublin on Wednesday night.
