North Melbourne moves to 9-0 but 12 is the magic number for coach Brad Scott

NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott has hailed his side’s “complete” performance in a history-making demolition of Carlton.

There was a bit of niggle betwern Brent Harvey and Bryce Gibbs. Picture: George Salpigtidis

NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott has hailed his side’s “complete” performance in a history-making demolition of Carlton.

Not that he’s allowing ­himself or his players to enjoy the moment for long.

Fifteen minutes was the maximum Scott allotted for his side to bask in its club ­record of nine straight wins to start the season, mindful of a stern test awaiting in Sydney on Friday.

“It was complete,” Scott said of the win.

“It was pretty dominant across the board. The players know that there’s a really good opportunity in the second half of the year, so you enjoy the wins for about 10 or 15 minutes and then you move on.”

Scott admitted last week that the Kangaroos “made it difficult” for themselves and were almost overrun by ­Essendon after half-time — a performance he was adamant wouldn’t be repeated.

“Players sometimes just feel like they’ve got the opposition at arm’s length and they switch off for a second, but we got a good lesson last week and a good wake-up call that if you’re a little bit off, anyone can come at you,” he said.

“We just got that perfect lesson. The boys really knuckled down (last night) and did a really good job.”

There was a bit of niggle betwern Brent Harvey and Bryce Gibbs. Picture: George Salpigtidis

Nine is fine, but Scott has his eye on a prized 12 wins — traditionally the benchmark for making finals — before he reassesses the lay of the land.

“We’re really focused on Sydney this week. It’ll bring us back down to earth pretty quickly if we’re not careful,” he said.

“That’s going to be a really good challenge for us.

“To be perfectly honest, we’re just focusing on getting to the mark that historically says you’re going to play finals. That usually is 12 wins, and if you get that, then you reassess from there.

“We’re certainly not looking any further than that, and to achieve that objective, our 10th win will hopefully come against Sydney this week. It’s for other people to start projecting forward. Our challenge is to keep focusing on that mark of 12 wins.”

After Sydney, clashes with Richmond, Geelong and Hawthorn follow. It’s a block Scott admitted would test the group.

Carlton coach Brendan Bolton said his developing side needs to show more consistency within matches.

The Blues went into the Etihad Stadium clash on the back of a four-match win streak but were outscored by the Roos by at least two goals in each quarter.

It’s another huge test for Bolton’s side next Sunday when it takes on Geelong.

Bolton said he was looking forward to the challenge, but admitted his side has some work to do.

“It’s another challenge, we’ll look at Geelong strongly, find a strategy we think will work and then try to implement it,” Bolton said.

“But the challenge is to try and implement the strategy for four quarters, we need to be a little bit more consistent than we were tonight.

“When you’re looking at a team that hasn’t lost a game there always is good learnings because it gives opportunities for your players to say ‘this is where we need to get to’.

“They’re a very well-oiled machine and in and around the midfield was where it was won and lost. I think they kicked half a dozen goals from centre bounces.”

Bryce Gibbs could be scrutinised by the match review panel for a behind-the-ball incident with Brent Harvey late in the first quarter.

Replay footage, though unclear, appeared to show the players come together about 50m behind play, and ended in Harvey lying on the ground holding his stomach.

Brent Harvey falls to the ground after a scuffle with Bryce Gibbs. Picture: Getty Images

A heated push and shove developed between several players from both sides - requiring the emergency umpire to come on to the field - and North Melbourne received a free kick, although there didn’t appear to be a great deal in the clash despite on-field protestations.

Bolton said he didn’t get too carried away during the recent win streak and likewise said there were positives to take from.

“We got a few inside 50s, we didn’t get blown away (there),” he said.

“But our efficiency going forward was a concern.

“We thought there were some little sprouts of growth, (Patrick) Cripps’ second half, (Ciaran) Byrne showed some signs again, (Liam) Sumner laid some good tackles as a forward.

“They’re little moments, but we’ll go away and analyse that game really, really strongly.

“We’ve said it’s going to be a journey with ups and downs. We’ve had a few little ups, here’s another twist and turn. We’ll learn from it and grow from it.”

Originally published as North Melbourne moves to 9-0 but 12 is the magic number for coach Brad Scott