NORTH Melbourne great Wayne Carey wants to see much less of the kamikaze Kangaroos this season.

Carey has high hopes for his old club after last season's near-miss, when they dropped out of the finals to 10th on the back of a string of close losses.

North play their first pre-season match on Saturday when they meet Carlton in Ballarat.

"They're a good team to watch, but they were scored against quickly - that's what they have to fix this year," the Channel Seven commentator said.

"That kamikaze-style football, that attack, attack, attack, has opened up them up defensively.

"Opposition sides know that although the Kangaroos can kick goals very quickly, they can be scored against.

"That always gives them a little bit of a sniff."

He added it was little wonder North had struggled with stopping opponents from scoring, given how hard the Kangaroos ran when they had the ball.

"North have to tighten a few things up there and it may come at the expense of maybe not being all-out attack like they are," Carey said.

"They run so hard one way, I'm sure that's part of the reason they just can't get back to cover defensively."

Carey said the nucleus of the North team has been together for a few seasons now and the addition of free agent Nick Dal Santo will boost them.

Another strong sign for the two-time Kangaroos premiership captain was the team's ability last season to narrow the gap to top sides.

Carey noted the round-five loss to Hawthorn, where the eventual premiers only beat them by three points at the MCG.

"They lost a lot of close games last year ... (but) that gap of even the year before when they were in the finals, they were getting beaten by the better sides by big margins," Carey said.

"That is no longer and there are real positives from that point of view.

"For mine, it's going to be all about how they handle the expectation.

"Not me as a supporter, but as a football lover ... I expect them to play finals footy this year.

"If they don't, I think everyone will be disappointed."