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SIMPLE mistakes, not a lack of effort, were to blame for North Melbourne's last-quarter fadeout to Port Adelaide, Kangaroos coach Brad Scott says.
Thirty-two points up at the eight-minute mark of the final quarter in last Saturday's game at AAMI Stadium, North did not score again as Port rammed on five goals in the last 17 minutes to snatch a two-point win.
Despite such a dramatic turnaround, Scott was adamant at Aegis Park on Thursday that his players' work rate was not the cause.
"When you have a result like that you would think without watching the game and analysing it … that it was a capitulation, that it was a lack of effort, that you were completely overrun," Scott said.
"It wasn't any of those things. It was five or six mistakes in a row which directly cost us goals. And I don't even mean mistakes defensively, we had our chances to score too and we didn't take them."
But Scott said the loss had been a timely reminder that players had to maintain their intensity and concentration over an entire game.
"You don't have to drop off much for too long to really get exposed. And we had that lesson painfully taught to us in the last 15 minutes of the game last weekend.
"What that highlights to us is you've got to be on all the time and it takes every single player to get the job done and if a few let you down then it can significantly hurt you."
After eight rounds, North sits 12th on the ladder and faces a vital game against the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium this Sunday.
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But Scott said he was not focused on his team's win-loss record, but rather on working tirelessly on those areas of its game that needed to improve for it to be competitive against the best teams.
"Clearly the last two weeks have been really disappointing for us.
"While the outcome (against the Lions) is obviously very important, what's more important than that is the way we play, the way we address some of the things that have been letting us down."
"The exciting thing for us as a team is that we know that we're doing a lot of things really well.
"Even on the weekend the result was gut-wrenching but for 105 minutes we really addressed some things that had let us down in previous weeks so … if we carry out the things that we've been working on I'm sure that it will take care of itself."
Scott did name some of his team's problem areas.
He said he was not happy with North's defence, but stressed that he was referring to its defensive efforts all over the ground and not singling out his key defenders.
North's delivery to its forwards had to improve after it failed to take advantage of a 60-42 inside 50 count against Port.
But, by the same token, Scott said North had been unable to find a key forward to support Drew Petrie, lamenting Lachlan Hansen's two-match suspension at the VFL Tribunal last night after a best-on-ground performance for Werribee last weekend.
"On the flip side I can't say I'm sitting here too disappointed that he's showing genuine aggression," he said.
Hansen was suspended for rough contact against Northern Blues player Tim Totevski.
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North Melbourne v Brisbane Lions
Sunday 27th May, 1.10pm EST
Etihad Stadium
