VIDEOS: On the counter | 1st half highlights | Tarrant goes checkside | Bastinac running goal | Match highlights | Press conference | Join in the chorus | Bastinac, Atley, Adams interviews
Can't view the videos? Visit the NMFC YouTube Channel
NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott is proud of the resilience the club has shown during trying times on and off the field recently, reserving special praise for Kangaroos chairman James Brayshaw.
Prior to their impressive 32-point win over Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, the Kangaroos had won just three of their previous eight games, with each of those wins coming against a bottom-four team (Gold Coast twice, and the Brisbane Lions).
And just two days after their 115-point thrashing from Hawthorn in round 10, club chief executive Eugene Arocca resigned following a report he had fallen out with Brayshaw and North football chief Donald McDonald.
But Scott said Brayshaw had not only coped with those off-field events and the subsequent criticism directed at him, he had also helped bolstered club morale.
"I'm really proud of the group and proud of the way everyone has held up over the last few weeks, few months, starting from our chairman down," Scott said.
"I think he has been fantastic for us and been a real rock of support for the team."
Scott admitted his team's morale had suffered during the lean patch between its impressive round three win against Geelong and the victory over the Crows. He said as a consequence the Roos' run and spread, which was so good against the Cats and Crows, had slipped.
"When morale's down it's hard to run and to spread and to break into space and do those things," Scott said. ?
"It's mentally a challenge, so we just focused on 'when we play well, what do we do?' and that was certainly one of the things."
But Scott said the main key to North recapturing its best form had been simple persistence.
"The challenge is just when things aren't going your way, just keep persisting," Scott said.
"Morale is an amazing thing, and the scrutiny on teams these days is greater than ever - if you let that affect you and you let outside criticism affect your morale it can be damaging to your team.
"So that's our challenge: to make sure that we stick really tight as a group, take the good and take the bad but don't react too differently."
Scott said one of the most pleasing aspects of Sunday's win had been North's ability to respond to the third-quarter surge by the Crows, in which they kicked four straight goals to cut its lead from 48 points to 22.
Scott was also heartened by the even spread of contributions throughout North's team, saying emerging players such as key forward Robbie Tarrant (four goals) and speedy defender Shaun Atley (23 possessions and five inside 50s) were now helping to take the load off senior Roos such as skipper Andrew Swallow, Daniel Wells, Brent Harvey and Drew Petrie.
But, ultimately, Scott said North had beaten the Crows by winning the midfield battle.
"We were happy for Wells to go head to head with (Patrick) Dangerfield and we were happy for Ziebell to go head to head with (Scott) Thompson and really back those guys in to try and win that midfield battle," he said.
"And as a group I thought our guys won that battle pretty convincingly."
VIDEOS: On the counter | 1st half highlights | Tarrant goes checkside | Bastinac running goal | Match highlights | Press conference | Join in the chorus | Bastinac, Atley, Adams interviews
Can't view the videos? Visit the NMFC YouTube Channel
Nick Bowen covers North Melbourne news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nick
