NORTH Melbourne faces a tough task in keeping its late challenge for a finals berth alive, but coach Brad Scott would prefer to face resurgent St Kilda than a team out of September calculations on Saturday night.
The ninth-placed Kangaroos are six points behind the Saints, the Sydney Swans and Essendon and must win their last two matches and hope one of those three falters to claim a finals berth.
Despite a last-start loss to the Swans, St Kilda is a daunting opponent, but Scott isn't interested in taking any shortcuts to the finals.
"We've got to play the sort of footy that's going to make us a worthy contender come September," Scott said from Aegis Park on Wednesday.
"In the scheme of things, in terms of what's on the end of it, it's a hugely important game. It's a great position for our players to be in potentially the match of the round and to have that focus on us.
"We welcome that pressure, we welcome what's at stake and we'll get out and perform against a side that will be just as hungry as we are. If our performances over the next couple of weeks hold up and a few results go our way, I think we'll have probably deserved to get there.
"That's really important. I'm glad that we've got really good opposition this week in St Kilda, which will test where we're at. If we're good enough then we'll look at round 24 and beyond."
North was beaten by nine points in its last encounter with St Kilda in round 15 and Scott said his team must move the ball more efficiently inside attacking 50 to come out on top this time around.
"At that stage Drew [Petrie] was such a dominant player in the competition and the guys were so focussed in on Drew and wanted to kick it to him at every opportunity, but we've got other good forward options at the moment," he said.
"We've been working hard on that versatility. Drew's still going to be a super important part of our team on Saturday night, but we've got to have other options up there."
Scott said ruckman Hamish McIntosh, who has been stranded on 99 AFL games since round 22 of last season, would come into selection considerations.
McIntosh, 26, has played six games in the VFL since recovering from operations to both Achilles tendons and pushed his case for selection with a performance that saw him rated Werribee's best player last weekend.
"I consider him available in terms of form and fitness," Scott said.
"We're going to have to really weigh that up strongly and I'll be watching him very closely at training this afternoon."
Scott also took the opportunity to pay tribute to defender Brady Rawlings, who announced his retirement on Wednesday.
"He's been a remarkable player for us over a long period of time and he epitomises what this club's about," he said.
"He's very capable but very humble at the same time.
"He's the ultimate team player and he sets a great example for every other player at this club. He'll go down as a legend of North Melbourne."
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