North Melbourne will continue to move Majak Daw from end-to-end despite the Kangaroo's exciting four-goal display against Sydney.

Daw was instrumental in giving the Roos a chance against the Swans with an excellent showing on Sunday.

He was commanding on the lead and in the air, agile at ground level and for just the third time in his career kicked four goals or more at senior level as the Roos fell six points short of the Swans in a brilliant contest at Etihad Stadium.

Daw has spent most of the season stationed in the backline in a defensive role, and coach Brad Scott said the club is excited by the 27-year-old's versatility.

"Maj is developing as a footballer. He's been fantastic for us as a defender this year but it's not just his performance. It's the way he's evolved his game in all the fundamentals of AFL footy," Scott said.

"He's improved in every aspect and the biggest challenge for him is to be able to respond to the call to play as a multi-positional player – whether it's ruck, forward or back.

"That's hard for the seasoned veterans and the superstars of the competition to be able to do that and we're asking Maj to do that and he's doing it really well."

Daw had only 10 disposals but his influence on the game as a marking target alongside Ben Brown (four goals) and skipper Jack Ziebell (five goals) was significant.

He appears likely to return to the backline once Jarrad Waite (calf) and Mason Wood (hamstring) come back from their injuries, but Scott is pleased with the growing list of options at his disposal.

It was just Daw's 44th senior game since making his senior debut in 2013 and he has attracted doubters throughout his career, but Scott said he was proud of the effort Daw has put into making it.

"Sometimes it's easy from the cheap seats. He's not an inconspicuous person, he can't just blend in to the crowd. You look at his sheer size and physique, he's always going to garner a fair bit of attention. But he's a very down-to-earth guy who's worked really hard to create his opportunity," Scott said.

Scott was disappointed but realistic after the close defeat to the Swans, which leaves his side outside of the top-eight on percentage.

"We created a lot of opportunities but we're not quite where we want to be. We know that. We know we've got a lot of improvement in us as well, but we're putting ourselves in a position to compete against the good sides and Sydney has been a great football club for a long time so it's no surprise they keep fighting and coming back when they're behind," he said.

"They'll always keep fighting and that's the sort of team we aspire to be as well. We know we've got some work to do but there's a hell of a lot of good signs from what we're producing at the moment."

The Roos led at quarter-time by 12 points, trailed by 13 at the main break and had regained an 11-point lead by the final change before Aliir Aliir's goal in the final two minutes sealed the Swans' win.

North tagger Ben Jacobs missed the game with concussion symptoms – the third time in four weeks he has been a late withdrawal with the issue – but Scott said he doesn't hold major concerns for the midfielder.  

"I'm not because I see him day-in day-out and he looks good. It's a really hard one to explain because I'm a little bit miffed myself," he said.

"He seems okay and we're not playing games picking him every week. It appears he's right to go but again it's something doctors are a little bit nervous about understandably with anything that involves the head and neck.

"We've isolated it to more of a head problem than a neck problem. I don't know if one's better than the other, but it's frustrating for him, that's for sure."