NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott concedes his team was exposed in key areas by West Coast in its 96-point elimination final loss and vowed not to ignore those lessons.

However, Scott cut his young team, which included 13 finals debutants, some slack, saying he was proud of its electrifying finish to 2012 that took the club to its first finals series since 2008. He also acknowledged that effort had taken a physical and mental toll.

"I'm really proud of the guys. We've had to expend every little bit of energy and competitiveness that we had to get to this point and by the end they were just absolutely spent," Scott said after his team's defeat.

"So on one hand it's a credit to them for getting us to this point. But it's a bitterly disappointing way to go out that's for sure.

"The great thing about finals is that they lay you bare, there's nowhere to hide. You get opened up and some players and some clubs rise above that and they shine and other players get exposed.

"And our challenge is not to paper over any cracks and the cracks that got exposed today.

"We've got to delve into and we've got to fix them and keep improving and turning over our list and finding guys who are competitive enough to stand up in big games like this one in a hostile environment against quality opposition."

Scott freely acknowledged he and the club were shattered by Sunday's loss but suggested North was not as far away from winning finals as the final margin against the Eagles suggested.

"When you get to this stage it's a finer line than people think," Scott said, pointing to the Roos' competitiveness in contested possessions (138-142) and clearances (42-43).

In that regard, Scott paid tribute to the inside play of his captain Andrew Swallow (32 disposals, 19 contested possessions, seven clearances), co-vice-captain Jack Ziebell (30, 17 and a game-high 12) and Ben Cunnington (22, 16 and eight).

Scott said North had been "cracked" by the Eagles' spread and ability to regularly carry the ball the length of the field, but said that area had been a strength of his team's in its 10-2 finish to the home and away season.

However, Scott said the Roos did not have a hardened run-with player like Eagle Adam Selwood who they could confidently send to shut down a key opposition midfielder.

Scott suggested the Roos would not go to the trade table to try and fix their list problem areas, saying they would continue to seek "organic" improvement in 2013 through player development and in the draft.

Scott used Cunnington as an example of the type of improvement he would be seeking in his youngsters

The third-year player was dropped to the VFL after averaging 14.6 possessions in North's first 12 games this season. But since returning in round 17, Cunnington has averaged 24 disposals a game.

"It's just really pleasing to watch a player who's has some criticism in the past play the way he did," Scott said.

"If the others improve to the level that Ben Cunningotn has then we'll be a pretty good side."

Scott said he did not see an incident between Brent Harvey and Eagle Daniel Kerr late in the third quarter, in which the veteran Roo appeared to make high contact with the Eagle midfielder off the ball.

Nick Bowen covers North Melbourne news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nick