NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott has hinted he will resist the temptation to wield the selection axe ahead of this Sunday's clash with Melbourne, saying his focus was on reinforcing the things his inconsistent team does well.
After last Saturday night's loss to Adelaide, Scott blamed North's chronic inconsistency in 2014 on the performance fluctuations of some players, saying that, unlike the good teams, the Roos did not get 22 contributors each week.
However, Scott told reporters on Thursday that turning his team's fortunes around was not as simple as making a statement at the selection table.
"I'm a really big believer in coaching players through challenges they face and we've certainly got a lot of guys whose own performances have put them on notice," Scott said.
"Those guys will have to step up but we've got the fortunate position where we've got a few players who are returning from injury (and) we've got some players in good form in the VFL.
"We're really open-minded with selection this week."
Scott said the loss to the Crows had really hurt, with the Roos coach particularly concerned at how reactive his players had been at some contests.
"This week we've reinforced some of the things we do well and we're going to try to get back to that sort of footy and talk a bit more about some of things we do well, rather than just focusing on the negatives," Scott said.
We, like most sides, play our best when we're really making the play and I thought we were very reactive in combination with Adelaide being very proactive, which is a pretty bad equation when you're trying to get on the front foot.
"I think some of the positives of the way we play have got to be reinforced with the players so that we take that mindset into a game, rather than waiting to see what happens."
Scott suggested key forward Robbie Tarrant would hold his place in North's team despite having just three possessions and one mark in his first senior game back from a long-term lower leg injury.
He said Tarrant's work rate had been "terrific" against the Crows, with his inability to have an influence on the game mostly a product of North's poor delivery to its forwards.
Star midfielder Daniel Wells (foot) is on track to be medically cleared to play in three weeks, but might take longer to regain the match-conditioning needed to return to the senior team, having last played in round five.
Key defender Nathan Grima (foot) has been sidelined since round seven.
Scott said Grima felt he was ready to return, but would not play against Melbourne and would probably miss North's round 15 clash with the Brisbane Lions too.
"Probably from round 16 onwards we'll be having some pretty serious discussions," Scott said of Grima's likely return.
