It was one of those bone-bruising evenings for the fearless North vice-captain. After several big hits, Jack Ziebell looked severely battered and bruised.

"That's footy, when you play you get (those hits) every now and then. It was pretty hot early, the pressure from both sides was good and when that happens disposal efficiency goes out a bit," he told the Herald Sun's Jon Ralph.

Substituting him wasn't an option according to Brad Scott.

"It was tempting but the medicos assured me it was nothing structural, so there was no risk. So when there's no risk it's a matter of how he can function and when I spoke to him, he threatened me with physical violence if subbed him off."

With his shoulder wounded, he battled on and moved into the goal square where he had an immediate impact kicking a much-needed Roos' goal.

"It is always nice to be able to contribute to the team, and if you can't contribute you might get subbed out.  So I was assuring the coaches I could contribute, so to be able to get forward and kick a goal was nice,'' he said.

"It was a bit ugly there, but it opened up in the second half when the players got tired."

Getting the four points has kick-started the Kangaroos' season after a disappointing Round 1 effort.

"We are on the board now. It was an improved effort from last week, so we look to move forward next week against Port Adelaide.

"I probably didn't have my best game today, but more importantly the team won, and we had an even contribution today, and all the guys in the midfield played well.

"When it's a team effort, we don't need guys getting 30 touches or laying ten tackles, you spread the load which is something we need to do for a long time, not just one game."