While North Melbourne’s encouraging start to the season may have stunned many ‘experts’, especially those that predicted a wooden spoon for the Roos, it’s come as no surprise to those inside the four walls at Arden St.

Despite having one of the youngest list in the competition and the most players under the age of 25, coach Brad Scott is bullish about his team’s prospects.

“Coaches, I don’t think, like to use the term ‘rebuild’ because you are prepared to accept less than acceptable performances,” Brad Scott said.

Not having access to many high draft picks for much of his coaching career has provided some challenges but Scott knows culture is more important.

“We’ve had thousands of games [experience] go out of the football club and we’re about equal youngest with the Gold Coast in terms of our overall list … [But] I think the culture that you build throughout that period is more important and I think that if you continue to do that you can find players like Ben Brown who can come in and have a real impact,” he told SEN.

“In terms of the choice, do you need to go to the bottom to get the draft picks to come back up? I’ve never been of the view.”

Brown was taken at No.47 in the 2013 Draft and has become one of the competition’s most destructive forwards.

“He came in, and was overlooked in his first draft actually, had to move up from Tasmania, played in our affiliate club in the VFL at Werribee and we got a really close look at him there and saw enough to think that he could be an AFL player,” Scott said.

“Clearly he has gone on to do some pretty good things … I think one of the keys was when we brought Browny in was when Drew Petrie still had a few years left of AFL footy.

“We were really keen to make sure that when Browny came in as young key position player, often they come in when they’re one [player] out, they get targeted by the opposition and they’re not quite mature enough to handle AFL defenders.

“Drew really sheltered Browny in the first couple of years.”

With a ‘super draft’ predicted in 2018 and some talented father son selections available including Nick Blakey, Bailey Scott and Joel Crocker, Scott knows North has its work cut out.

“We’ve had a lot to do with Nick since he was 12 years of age through the father-son academy and watching him grow and develop,” Scott said. 

“He’ll be a very handy player in time, he’s already an elite junior,” he said.

“We’re going to work extremely hard to convince Nick that North Melbourne under the father-son rule is the place for him.

“It’s a real challenge to move him out of the state that he’s grown up in where he’s father’s an assistant coach and all his mates live.”