Having survived a late surge from the Power, the Kangaroos improved to a 2-4 record, but such is the part of a senior AFL coach Scott said his focus had already begun to shift away from the hard-fought win.
“We were just talking about what flight I’m catching to Perth tomorrow morning to watch the Bulldogs and West Coast. You move on really quickly,” he said.
“I was rapt for the boys.
“The danger we had is we’re playing good footy but weren’t getting reward for that effort.
“We played a side today that are five wins and no losses and feeling really good about themselves and they played accordingly. They played really well and like a winning side.
“It’s more relief for us that we got some reward for the effort - the fundamentals are sound but it’s time for us to get on our bike and start to consolidate this win.
“The fundamentals were pretty good, clearance work was good, still getting the ball inside 50 enough.
"We have to clean up some of our ball use and certainly some of our forward 50 entries, but that was better than it was last week so we’ve just got to keep improving that.”
Five talking points: Kangaroos v Power
North had kicked away to a five-goal lead in the opening term but was steadily pegged back by a Port side determined to maintain their unbeaten record in 2013.
When the Power closed to within two straight kicks with a couple of minutes to play it seemed like North may cough up another four points – as had been the case against Collingwood and Geelong during the opening rounds – but they steadied late to walk away with the win.
“I think the game was still on,” Scott said. “There’s no doubt we didn’t win it until right at the end but we expected that from Port’s first five weeks.”
“We knew they’d come back, they’ve done that all year… we know they can score quickly and if you look at the talent they’ve got on their list now they’re assembling a very good midfield brigade and they can be very dangerous, so we had to stay ‘on’ for the whole game.
“A few of the players are disappointed with the way we’ve played, they feel personally we didn’t play our best, but I think it’s very difficult for them to tell when they’re in the game that the opposition were very good.”
With Port’s burgeoning list boasting a number of prolific ball winners, Scott said there had been some debate as to who the Roos most needed to stop, praising Ryan Bastinac and Nathan Grima for their disciplined performances in blunting a couple of the opposition’s key players.
“We made a decision to go after Hamish Hartlett, which Ryan Bastinac did an outstanding job, and the other one we were going to take care of was (Justin) Westhoff and Nathan Grima did an outstanding job there, too.
“Ideally you like to take out their best players and let your own run free.
“I thought it was a pretty good tactical battle in the midfield.”
North face the Bulldogs in another crunch match next weekend and will be boosted by the return of superstar Brent Harvey from suspension.
The 346-game veteran is a sure thing to lace up his boots for the first time this season, and his inclusion will give the Roos added confidence going into the clash at Etihad Stadium.
“I introduced him to the green sub vest before. There’s no way he’ll be sub, because he won’t allow it,” Scott joked.
“The fact is he’s closer to the end of his career than the beginning and we’ve got to start planning for life without him. That’s been good exposure to that for six weeks, but we’re pretty happy to have him back.
“He’ll be ready to go. His preparation is unbelievable. I’ve never seen a footballer prepare to play a game like him and I’ve seen some good ones… the moment for him has finally arrived.”
