The notion North Melbourne “topped up” its list at the end of last season is incorrect, according to Brad Scott.

With Next Generation Academy player Tarryn Thomas up for grabs, Scott said the club off-loaded its first pick (No.11) to Port Adelaide for Jared Polec.

“So every club in the competition knew that our first-round pick was on the table and we basically canvassed that to every football club and we looked for future picks, we looked for current picks and in the end Jared Polec at 26-years-of-age was the best of all those options for us,” Scott explained on AFL 360.

“We obtained Jared Polec and got Tarryn Thomas anyway, as well as Bailey Scott, as well as Joel Crocker. That was a key component to the journey that we are on … it is a complete fabrication to suggest that we topped up at the end of last year.”

North also acquired Jasper Pittard in the same trade, and later brought in Aaron Hall from the Gold Coast for pick 68 and Dom Tyson from Melbourne for pick 62 and Braydon Preuss.

“The other players that we added, you have a look at what we moved for them, they were back of draft selections,” Scott said.

Responding to recent criticism of the club’s 1-5 start, Scott said: “I think in situations like this — and I’ve been in situations like this a lot as a player, as an assistant coach and now as a senior coach — I’ve seen people respond really well to that and I’ve seen people capitulate.

“And the ones that struggle are the ones that get caught up in that and they lose the laser focus on where it should and they start to worry about things that they can’t control.

“I think criticism and accountability is really important in our industry. I think you should be able to withstand criticism and crave accountability, because those who don’t crave accountability are either lazy or inept. If it was something I was concerned about then I would act on it.”