NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott has backed Lindsay Thomas through some tough times this season.

Although Thomas' defensive pressure has been solid most of the year, the small forward has had a highly publicised horror run in front of goal.

From rounds two to six, he kicked 14 consecutive behinds. And, in round 16 against Collingwood, he missed a goal from 15m out almost directly in front.

Thomas had played every game until then, returning 17.29 and failing to score with another 10 shots.

But after North's demoralising loss to the Magpies, Scott decided enough was enough, dropping Thomas back to the VFL last round.

Announcing the decision, Scott said: "We've got to the point now where we're actually hurting Lindsay more by sending him out there to play and he's also not helping the team."

Obviously, Scott is not the only coach who has had to deal with a player's form slump in 2011. His twin brother and Geelong coach Chris Scott has twice dropped 2009 premiership key forward Tom Hawkins, and Adelaide coach Neil Craig omitted half-forward Chris Knights after round 14. 

Essendon coach James Hird admitted he came close to dropping ruckman/forward Patrick Ryder after a string of quiet games that culminated in a poor performance against Hawthorn in round 14. But Hird decided Ryder was better served trying to find form in the AFL, rather than the VFL.

"Paddy's probably lucky to stay in the team, but we want to develop him as a player and we think this is the best way to do it,"Hird said ahead of his team's round 15 clash with Geelong.

Hird's faith was vindicated when Ryder was one of the Bombers' best in a thrilling four-point win over the Cats.

Similarly, Brad Scott stuck with midfielder Jack Ziebell when his form and fitness were criticised earlier this season, most notably by former Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos.

Like Ryder, Ziebell has since repaid his coach's faith, the 20-year-old's form steadily improving since round eight and culminating in his 41-possession game against the Western Bulldogs last Sunday.

So how does a coach best help a player to arrest a form slump?

Former Western Bulldogs and Richmond coach Terry Wallace told the AFL Record a coach had to know the player concerned and identify how their form struggle had affected them mentally.

"The match committee and coach always want to show their support to a player in the hope he can work through his problems," Wallace said.

"But sometimes the player is too mentally shot to be able to do that. In that situation, it's actually better for everyone for him to be dropped.

"I've had those conversations with players where it's almost a relief to them when that happens. Rather than having to keep clawing away to hold on to their spot, they can let that go and focus on what they have to do to get themselves back into the team."

Another former Richmond coach, Danny Frawley, said as much as a coach tried to cater to an individual's sensibilities, he had to be consistent in his selection policy.

"As a coach, you've got to be super-consistent because players are smart and they'll know if one guy is getting a free ride," Frawley said. 

"For the mechanics of the team, you've got to be clear where you set the lines, so they can see a player has been picked for a certain reason."

Frawley said it was on this basis he had dropped champion spearhead Matthew Richardson to the VFL in 2004 after he had remonstrated with teammates over their poor delivery to him.

"It was a situation where an individual was threatening to override the team mechanics," he said.

"There were only so many times a player of Matthew's stature could say that he'd done the wrong thing in the inner sanctum. So that night was the straw that broke the camel's back, but Matthew took his medicine and we moved on."