North Melbourne would not be satisfied with bowing out in its second preliminary final in two years and will travel west "on a mission" to knock off the rampaging Eagles, coach Brad Scott says.

The Kangaroos played their first preliminary final under Scott last year and the coach said his group had subconsciously been happy with the achievement, despite losing to the Swans by 71 points at ANZ Stadium.

On Saturday night they got revenge at the same venue, winning by 26 points in the club's first interstate finals win, but Scott said his players would not be patting themselves on the back just yet.

"I think we came up to Sydney hoping a little bit (last year) and I'd be lying if I didn't say on reflection that the group was a little bit happy with the achievement," Scott said on Saturday night.

"We're not happy with the achievement. This year we're striving, on the back of some really good performances, to keep going.

"We're going there on a mission."

After kicking 11.11 against the Swans, Scott said his team would need to lift its output against the high-scoring Eagles, who will be coming off a one-week break.

The longer Domain Stadium would suit the Kangaroos, he said, and travelling in consecutive weeks did not worry his team after a period of planning for a finals series on the road.

"They've been a dominant side all year and have a lot of strengths all over the ground," Scott said of Adam Simpson's team.

"We've got some strengths too, so we're not going into a preliminary final hoping.

"We're going there with a method that we think stacks up in the heat of September and we're really looking forward to the challenge."

The decision to rest nine key players against Richmond in round 23 is shaping as a masterstroke after North Melbourne became the first club under the top eight system to make a preliminary final from eighth spot on the ladder.

Scott, who was criticised at the time, said it was hard to judge what benefit his players were getting from the selection move two weeks ago.

"It's a bit of an intangible now," he said. "It's really difficult to measure other than how you perform late in games.

"We've built a fitness base over a long period of time and we made the decision at the time in the best interests of the players and the club.

"What I'm more concerned about is the mental state of the players and they feel really confident in their own ability, they feel really confident in our system at the moment."

One of the most impressive aspects of Saturday night's win was the Kangaroos' ability to hold up under fierce pressure from the Swans early in the third quarter, Scott said.

After conceding back-to-back goals and having the margin cut to three points in the opening three minutes of the second half, they held their nerve and were able to enter the last break with a 13-point lead.

"From a maturity perspective that was the most pleasing part of tonight," Scott said.

"We shot ourselves in the foot and we couldn't put enough of a gap between them and us on the scoreboard, and they came back exactly as we expected them to.

"To withstand that pressure and come again was really pleasing."