Hansen had just three disposals and one mark in the first half of North's 45-point defeat of the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium on Saturday. As the No. 3 selection in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft, Hansen has also previously been the subject of media criticism for not delivering on his potential.
But when he was moved from North's forward line to defence at the start of the second half, Hansen quickly got himself in the match.
Within minutes he had taken two strong contested marks, while he soon grew in confidence and ran off his man when the opportunity presented.
Scott said Hansen himself had admitted that his first half had been "very ordinary" and, as such, was on the receiving end of some stern words from the coach in the changerooms.
"Lachie shouldn't need the rev that he got at half-time to respond like that in the second half," Scott said.
"He's a player I've got lot of faith in and I implore all North Melbourne supporters to keep the faith with him because we are not a club that criticises its own. And so any North Melbourne supporter that does that, I'd be very disappointed in.
"But he's going to be a long-term key-position player for us at both ends of the ground, as Robbie Tarrant will be, as Cam Pedersen will be."
Scott said his message to Hansen at half-time had been simple.
"Just that he plays his best footy when he's proactive," Scott said.
"I think he's an elite mark of the footy and when he goes for his marks and he gets on the front foot rather than waiting to see what his opponent's going to do … he's a very good player. But when he's reactive, he's not."
North's victory took to it within half a game of eighth-placed Essendon and Scott was pleased that his team had been able to claw its way back into finals contention after losing its first four games of 2011.
But he was mindful that North's victory over the Lions had been workmanlike and that it remained some way off the competition's top teams.
"Internally we've been really pleased with the progression and we're really confident we're heading in the right direction," Scott said.
"But we're also really cognisant of the fact that we've got a lot of work to do because we still do some things that are not going to be good enough against the very best."
North went into half-time just five points in front of the Lions, after again failing to make the most of its chances in front of goal - the Kangaroos kicked 8.10 and missed a number of relatively easy shots.
Scott said his team played poorly in the opening half but paid tribute to the Lion's pluck, especially when they were missing their most valuable key forward and key defender, Jonathan Brown and Daniel Merrett respectively, and their most attacking half-back, Josh Drummond.
"They've been a really plucky side all year," Scott said of the Lions.
"I'm frustrated with some of the things we didn't do well but a lot of the times the opposition don't let you do them well either, so I thought Brisbane were pretty good today and they have been pretty good over a long period of time."
Scott said North's pressure in its forward 50 had been instrumental in turning the game in its favour in the second half, with the Kangaroos laying 11 forward tackles in the third quarter.
Most tellingly, North kicked three consecutive goals in a 12-minute patch from midway through the third quarter - to Daniel Wells, Todd Goldstein and Aaron Edwards - which all resulted from tackles inside the forward 50 that earned free kicks.
Scott said the addition of small forward Matt Campbell in North's team in the past three rounds had helped lift its forward defensive pressure, an area in which it had been lagging behind the competition's better sides.
For the first time in recent weeks, midfielder Daniel Wells was a solid contributor rather than a star for the Kangaroos as Lions tagger Andrew Raines performed a disciplined role on him.
But Scott said he was heartened that North now had a deeper rotation of midfielders it could rely on.
"In the past we've been pretty much a one-trick pony," Scott said. "Our good players have had to play really well for us to win and we know that that's not sustainable in the long term.
"It was really good that other players could pick up the slack. We can't expect 'Wellsy' to have it 35 times every week and win the game for us, so we're starting to develop a pretty good even contribution."
Although Wells had a relatively modest 17 possessions, Ryan Bastinac (29), Andrew Swallow (24), Leigh Adams (23) and Jack Ziebell (21) all contributed to a North midfield effort that eventually overwhelmed the Lions' on-ball division, despite the efforts of inspirational veteran Simon Black (37 possessions).
