A gritty 10-point victory over West Coast likely wouldn’t have been achieved without a change in tactics for the last quarter.

At Blundstone Arena on Sunday, North Melbourne had use of an extremely strong wind for the first and third quarters, yet only led by six points with one term to go.

It was the lessons learned from the second quarter that allowed the Roos to kick four goals into a breeze that had only allowed four in the first three quarters combined.

During the second term, North attempted to hold onto the 18-point lead it had earned in the first term. The first focus was to get as much territory on its disposals as possible, as shown by the breakdown in disposal splits.

It was a relatively similar approach to the first quarter, but obviously for differing reasons.

The Eagles were able to completely dominate the second term while North was using the tactic. If it wasn’t for some desperate defence – three rushed behinds and a Naitanui shot touched off the boot, the deficit could have been a lot larger than seven points at the long break.

Clearly something needed to change in the final term. Speaking in his post-match media conference, Darren Crocker explained the thought process at the final break.

“In the second quarter we just tried to defend a lead and it didn’t work for us that well," he said.

“In the last quarter, because we didn’t have much of a buffer, we needed to keep attacking the game.

“We spoke about being able to take our opportunities into the wind and that if we could run the ball to do that.

“As the game went on, our guys just played the conditions a little smarter.”

It started with the work around the stoppages. The Kangaroos’ ferocity in the contest enabled them to win first use of the ball more often than not.

Then, once they had won possession, the strategy of how to use it changed. No longer was there a long kick, one which had every chance of being blown back over their head by the gale. Instead there was a focus on going short, maintaining control and the tempo.

More than 70 per cent of North’s kicks in the final term were short. It was a huge increase compared to the second term, where the figure was only 55 per cent.

The more considered approach to bringing the ball forward also allowed the home side to defend better when it didn’t have it. West Coast managed three goals for the term – only one was from inside 50. Shannon Hurn and Sharrod Wellingham’s majors were from a long, long way out.

While it is tough to figure out just how much of what happened can be transferred to this Saturday night under the roof at Etihad Stadium, the effort and tackling is an area which can be brought every week.

“This is the start,” Crocker said post-match.

“We need to build momentum from this game and get the ball rolling. We spoke about the belief that comes from just putting the evidence out on the park.”