Inside the four walls of the North Melbourne Football Club, there is a strong sense that the team is tracking well.

What was hoped for on Sunday, apart from a surprise win against defending champs and ladder-leading Richmond, was that North supporters would walk away from Etihad Stadium with the same belief and confidence.

On that front at least, the Kangas delivered.

"I didn't think our playing group needed any more reinforcement of the path we're going down and the journey we're on," said coach Brad Scott after a thoroughly-entertaining and gripping 10-point loss to the Tigers that might have gone the other way had North had a bit more polish and composure when things got tight towards the end.

Full-forward Ben Brown missed two shots inside 50m metres in the final few minutes when North, with the last nine inside 50 entries of the game, had all the ascendancy.

"What we hope our supporters see is a North Melbourne brand that we think stacks up and even more important than the players seeing it is the supporters seeing it," Scott said.

It takes a fairly devoted fan to give up yum cha with mum on Mother's Day, but the warm reception afforded the Kangaroos by their fans post-game would suggest that the trip to the footy instead was worth it.

"We're disappointed we didn't get the result, but we didn't lose any self-belief at the same time," Scott continued.

"In a game like that, which is frenetic and with a lot of pressure, we would have liked to have a bit more polish, but the majority of footy is giving yourself a chance to win and we did that."  

The admittance price was almost worth it just to witness a game for the ages from North midfielder Ben Cunnington, whose 32 contested possessions (he had 38 possessions overall) was an all-time League record.

The 26-year-old is enjoying a fantastic season and is surely in All Australian contention. Scott has long believed him to be an elite midfielder and hoped that a takeaway from Sunday is that others believe that as well.

"It's a domination, an unbelievable performance," he said. "He was exceptional, and I'll let all the experts discuss where his game stacks up. I think he's an elite player and has been for a long time.

"I think some don't think he stacks up against the elite midfielders of the competition, but that's starting to change."

Given that he watches Cunnington more closely than "the experts", Scott was asked how Sunday's performance rated.

"It was one of his best, but he's very good most weeks. Even when he's not having 32 contested possessions he's doing work that doesn't get noticed."

He also had a friendly swipe at one premiership coach who is now a high-profile commentator.

"He's come a long way since Paul Roos said he wasn't AFL standard," he quipped.

Ben Jacobs also pleased his coach, keeping Dustin Martin to 16 possessions and forcing the 2017 Brownlow medalist to the forward line for the final quarter.

"I've said before, he continues to build from week to week and gives the coaches great scope to manipulate the game based on how it's going, and when things aren't quite working out for us we can make some changes," Scott said.

"That's very easy to do on a magnet board but you need a player who can adapt.

"Players who play that role are single-minded in their approach to the game and they find it hard to switch, but nothing bothers Ben. He does what he we ask him to do," he said.

Scott added that improving North's midfield had been a stated aim and that in addition to the great form of Cunnington and Jacobs, Jed Anderson continues to improve, showing the benefit of a searching training regimen at the end of last season.