Jack Ziebell says the Roos are ready to atone for last week’s loss at the hands of Sydney.
North travels to Hobart for a historic Friday night clash against Richmond and the vice-captain told NMFC.com.au the midfielders in particular, have to step up their game.
“We were probably beaten in the midfield last week, and we take that pretty personally individually and as a collective,” the 25-year-old said.
“We’ll look to bounce back, but in saying that, we understand Richmond have got some really quality players that run through the midfield and it’s going to be a team effort tomorrow night to get the job done because they’ve got star power on every line.
“If we can win the battle on the inside and in the midfield and get it forward to our big guys, then we’ll give them a bit more of a chance then we did last week.”
After a record-breaking winning streak to start the season, Ziebell said the Roos were stung by last week’s defeat.
“Winning nine in a row is a great start, but losing last week everyone had a bitter taste in their mouth because we’d won a lot in a row and we wanted to keep that going.
“You narrow your focus this week, it’s really important we bounce back and get on the winners list and it will take our season forward.”
Blundstone Arena has become somewhat a fortress for North and the club is determined to keep it that way.
“We’ve had a pretty good record here over the past three or four years since we’ve come down. We really enjoy coming down,” he said.
“We haven’t played a night game down here yet. The first Friday night game should be good, it might be nice and chilly but hopefully we can use that to our advantage and get another win on the board.”
And while the temperature may be a factor, with the mercury set to drop close to zero, the wind is not expected to be blowing as strongly as it did when the Roos took on the Dees in Round 3.
“Hopefully there is no wind, we’re running around so it should be fine, we won’t be too cold ... we’ve heard it might be anywhere from four to two degrees (on Friday night)."
The number seven said North’s time in Tasmania was made even easier thanks to the hospitality the team received while staying in the country’s southernmost capital.
“The people in Hobart are really welcoming as well and they are excited to have AFL football down here and we’re excited to bring it to them.”