Jack Ziebell says several big defeats at the start of the year helped North identify important areas of improvement.

After four wins in a row the Roos are now sitting in seventh place, and Ziebell has pointed to their early season form as a vital learning experience.

“Our fixture was fairly tough at the start of the year and we had a few bad beatings, but what that did do was not allow us to gloss over cracks. It allowed us to delve into issues we needed to fix,” Ziebell said.

“As bad as being beaten by 10 goals was, I think looking back it probably helped us in the long run. It helped us identify a few issues we needed to fix. We got on top of that right there and then.”

While history says sides that finish in the top four are far more likely to have success in September, North is hitting form at the right time.

“It’s such a tight race for the finals this year in the competition,” Ziebell said.

“I think we are only a game out of fourth spot, so that just shows you how tight the competition for spots is leading into finals.

“If you get caught looking too far ahead, as cliché as it is, you probably might get left behind.

“We are taking it one week at a time … we’ve got a massive game this week against Melbourne on Sunday and we’ll look to put our best forward and hopefully keep the form tracking we’ve had the last month.”

The Roos were dominant for much of the night in a big win over Carlton, but were again unable to deliver a four quarter performance.

“We need to play consistent footy. On the weekend I think we played pretty well for three quarters, but in the second quarter we let ourselves down a bit.

“If we do that against quality sides and sides we are going to play in the finals it could leave us a little bit vulnerable.

“In saying that we are building a solid platform over the last month. We need to improve in a few different areas to be competitive against the top sides, which we haven’t done this year.”

While North boasts a seamless record against Melbourne in recent years, Sunday’s match looms as a big challenge.

“You look at their results this year and especially last week against Collingwood - who I rate to be a pretty quality side with some quality young talent – the Demons really took it up to them and kicked away in the last quarter,” Ziebell said.

“You definitely can’t take them lightly. We certainly won’t be. We’ll do our research this week and knuckle down on what they do well and how we can try to expose them. It’s definitely a big game for the footy club.”

One player vital to North’s fortunes is Todd Goldstein, the big man the talk of the footballing world.

“He’s had a great year. I wouldn’t be surprised if he featured highly in the Brownlow,” Ziebell added.

“It’s nice to be a midfielder at the feet of Todd Goldstein. He’s been quite amazing … some of the things he can do as a big bloke is outstanding.

“I think he’d be pretty certain to be close to All-Australian and he’s had his best year for us as a footy club. We are rapt to have him and hopefully he can continue that for the rest of the year.”

On Tuesday, Ziebell spent time as a volunteer at the Melbourne Town Hall, showing off his skills as a barista – all for a good cause.

North Melbourne and its community arm, The Huddle, have thrown their support behind the City of Melbourne’s pop-up café this week as part of Homelessness Prevention Week, inviting people to enjoy a free coffee while learning more about homelessness and how to best assist people in need.

The free and low cost café and coffee cart is managed by ‘STREAT’, helping to showcase the positive outcomes that their model of social enterprise has achieved for young people experiencing homelessness.