Brad Scott has heaped praise on milestone man Brent Harvey, describing him as a North Melbourne icon after the Kangaroos' demolition of the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night.

What made Harvey's historic 400th game even more special says Scott, was that North Melbourne broke a 10-year hoodoo at the Gabba with their 72-point victory.

Earlier in the week the North Melbourne coach had created headlines for not guaranteeing Harvey's future in 2016.

But after the Kangaroo champion racked up 27 disposals and two goals in his milestone match, Scott was glowing in his praise.

"He's an icon of our club and he just keeps performing," Scott said.

"He's an unbelievably valuable commodity for us."

Scott said the special night would have been hollow without victory, and it was something North Melbourne had spoken about during the week.

It continued the club's perfect winning record in Harvey's milestone games.

"It says a lot about the club, but I think it says equally as much about him," Scott said.

"While it is about the team, the celebration of a milestone is pretty hollow when you lose.

"I reckon it's a reflection on Boomer himself that his 21 teammates want to get out there and perform for him.

"I said to the players after the game; in life the respect of your peers is almost the ultimate honour. The way they get up for him reflects that respect."

It was the first time in the last seven tries that North Melbourne has won at the Gabba, and the first win since 2005.

Scott said they over-possessed the ball during the second quarter – which they lost – but all in all it was a performance that continued a slow build through the season.

"We haven't had a win up here for a decade," he said.

"We spoke about it a lot during the week. Boomer himself spoke about it a lot - that we've come up here and flown home with our tails between our legs.

"We really needed to respond. On the back of some good effort in the contest and some really good defensive efforts, we got the job done."