NORTH Melbourne's impressive recent form turnaround had its genesis several weeks before its 115-point thumping by Hawthorn in round 10, co-vice-captain Jack Ziebell says.
Ziebell said the loss to the Hawks forced the Kangaroos to reassess what they stood for and where they needed to improve.
But he said North's ability to rebound from a slow start to 2012 to win its past three games, including impressive victories over Adelaide and St Kilda in the past two rounds, could be traced to the lessons it learnt earlier in the season.
"Probably the first half of the year when we were on top of sides we allowed them to come back and get back into the game," Ziebell said.
"And we thought that was a bit of an area for improvement."
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Ziebell seemed to be referring particularly to North's round eight and nine games, when it lost to Port Adelaide after having a 32-point lead at the eight-minute mark of the final quarter, and a week later when the Roos hung on to beat the Brisbane Lions by 16 points after leading by 58 early in the third quarter.
But Ziebell acknowledged the Hawthorn loss had powerfully reinforced the problem areas North to address.
"That [loss was] not where we want to be as a team and I think that's not what we want to stand for," Ziebell said.
"So we understood that we needed to improve and I think the coaches did a good job in pointing out areas where we needed to improve and I think the boys took that to the nth degree and started to play for each other.
"The boys weren't happy with what got dished up that day against Hawthorn and I think that not much needed to be said to tell you the truth. We just really needed to go out there and play the way that we can play for each other and get the results."
Ziebell said North's wins over the Crows and Saints had taken its players' self belief "a good couple of steps forward".
"When we play our best football ... we win the contested footy and put the body on the line. Over the last few weeks we've been doing that and the results have been going our way," Ziebell said.
"It's pretty important for the guys in our team to have the confidence to be able to do that and I think our last few weeks ... they've taken a lot of confidence out of it."
Asked whether he thought North could have an impact in the finals in the wake of its move into eighth place at the end of round 14, Ziebell said simply: "The boys are really confident in what they can do."
But otherwise he preferred not to look any further ahead than North's clash with West Coast at Hobart's Blundstone Arena this Saturday.
"It's going to be a great opportunity for us and to be able to come up against a top-four side down in Hobart and really see where we're at," he said.
Ziebell said he had fully recovered from the back soreness he had carried at times this year and a bruised shoulder he suffered against the Crows.
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Nick Bowen covers North Melbourne news for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nick
