North Melbourne will maintain its faith in Todd Goldstein for Saturday night's clash against Carlton, but Kangaroos coach Brad Scott has had "really upfront discussions" with the ruckman after his disappointing performance against Melbourne. 

Following a strong game against St Kilda on Good Friday, Goldstein crashed back to earth last Saturday at the MCG as he was soundly beaten in the ruck by Demon Max Gawn. 

Gawn was a clear best on ground in the Demons' 37-point win, finishing with 18 possessions, six marks and three score assists, while he had 50 hit-outs to Goldstein's 15. 

Scott told reporters in his post-match press conference Gawn had "really got a hold" of Goldstein during Melbourne's win. 

However, the North coach confirmed Goldstein would maintain his hold on the Roos' No.1 ruck spot against Carlton, but said the 29-year-old had to rediscover the strengths that had made him the best ruckman in the competition in 2015. 

"Todd and I have had some really upfront discussions and (there are) some things that he needs to work on, but there are some elements of his game that were positive (against Melbourne)," Scott said. 

"Gawn is an elite ruckman, he's very hard to stop when he imposes himself on the contest, particularly at the centre bounces.

"But on the positive side of it, we were plus-nine in the clearances around the ground and 'Goldy' got forward again and gave us a target there.  

"So we just want to get him focused on playing to his strengths and learn what he can from this game and then move his attention to Matthew Kreuzer this week."

Scott acknowledged Goldstein, 201cm, was at a considerable disadvantage in ruck contests against taller opponents such as Gawn, 208cm, and Freo's Aaron Sandilands, 211cm, but said he needed to rediscover the aggressive mindset that had made him 2015's All Australian ruckman.

"He's got to play to his strengths and not get too caught up in his opponent's strengths, because you can bang your head up against a brick wall trying to beat a guy who's just better than you in certain aspects of the game," Scott said.

"We just want to get Goldy back to doing what he does really well and limiting the opposition on what they do really well. 

"You can't just say, 'I was once one of the premier ruckmen in the competition' and expect to keep doing the same things because the game evolves and everyone changes. 

"Goldy was a bit of a target even from Gawn I think many years ago. Gawn was pretty public in saying, 'Goldy is the best ruckman in the comp, I want to be that'. 

"I thought Goldy really emerged as a player years ago when he actually said, 'I want to be the dominant big man in the competition'. So we've got to get him in that mindset again."

Roos vice-captain Robbie Tarrant (hamstring soreness) wasn't on the track when North started training on Wednesday, but the club expects him to play against the Blues after he was a late withdrawal against Melbourne. 

If Tarrant returns, Scott suggested his replacement against the Demons, Majak Daw, had performed well enough in his first senior game as a key defender to hold his spot against the Blues, and was confident North had "enough flexibility" in its defence to play Daw alongside fellow talls Tarrant and Scott Thompson.

The coach suggested North would make few selection changes for its first game at Blundstone Arena this year, saying senior defender Sam Wright (ankle/foot) and forward Mason Wood (form) need more time in the VFL before earning recalls.