North Melbourne captain Andrew Swallow has forecast selection changes as the Kangaroos look to rebound from disastrous season-opening loss to Adelaide.

The Roos' skipper said coach Brad Scott "laid it on a few blokes" after the 77-point capitulation at Adelaide Oval, and the lists' depth could see the side shaken up ahead of Sunday's clash with the Brisbane Lions.

"Brad's always pretty calm and collected and I think he likes to really have a look at the vision and go back before he really gets fired up and into it," Swallow said on Monday at recovery in Melbourne.

"But he definitely laid it on a few blokes; he thought their performances weren't acceptable and I'm sure there's going to be some choice words tomorrow.

"A few guys might [get dropped], but it also depends on how we want to structure up.

"We went in with a structure against Adelaide that didn't quite work, so we might have to look at changing a couple of things up.

"We still have a few players who are in good form and could be in the team. I'm definitely sure they'll get looked at."

PRESS PLAY above to listen to the Swallow interview.

It was the sixth season opener in a row the Kangaroos have lost, which means Scott is yet to coach a round one win.

While suggesting the main reason for Sunday's heavy deficit was being "smashed out of the middle", Swallow said it wasn't as obvious why the Roos hadn't started their season with a win since 2009.

"I can't put it down to anything in particular, it's just one of those things," he said.

"You obviously want to get off to a good start. It's not a nice feeling sitting here today, but that's football.

"I thought our pre-season form was pretty good. It was a day where everything didn't go right.

"It wasn't good enough, it's not acceptable and now we have to look forward and try and rebound from this and hopefully get a win on the board next week."

The Roos lost the contested ball count 115-142, which Swallow said was the worst result in a long time.

Despite the discrepancy and the fact the Roos conceded 10 unanswered goals in the first half, he said he still believed the team was capable of standing up against the main contenders.

"We beat those good sides last year. We're comfortable that we can still perform and play some really good footy - we've just got to rebound from this now," he said.

"We'll just go and have a good look and just put it on a few blokes who aren't doing what we want.

"It's a long year, we've got plenty of time to rectify it and try to get our season back on track.

"If we get a change in mindset I'm sure we'll be able to turn it around pretty quickly."