Losing 10 games by 16 points or less was all the motivation North Melbourne’s players needed when put to the test during the pre-season.

Pushed to the brink by the coaching staff, Ryan Bastinac uttered the words “you are joking” when faced with another grueling run in Utah, having already completed two-and-a-half hours of training.

But thinking back to the disappointment of 2013 was all he needed to battle on.  

“At the time you thought we’ll do one or two of these (hill runs) and that will be it,” Bastinac told The Herald Sun’s Jay Clark.

“But they threw nine or 10 of them at us and they just kept saying: “It’s the fourth quarter” and kept re-informing (what was required) late in games during situations that we’ll be faced with in the year, and, hopefully late in the year as well.

“Looking back if we can get through that we can get through most things I think.”

Bastinac joins veteran Brent Harvey in describing the lead-up to 2014 as the hardest preparation of his career.

“I thought last pre-season was massive but the one we just completed smashed that by a mile, the workload has gone up so much.

“We were out on the track for four hours in 40 degree heat some days and the coaches didn’t ease up on us.”

While the pain of pushing time and time again may have seemed unbearable, the results are speaking for themselves.

Sitting at three wins and one loss, North has turned itself into one of the strongest finishing teams in the league, albeit only a month into the season.

After an impressive win against the Power, the ability to follow-up a week later against the Swans illustrated resilience unseen in previous years.

“It was amazing, because I don’t think we’ve beaten the Swans since I’ve been at the club, so they’re one team we’ve wanted to knock off for a while,” Bastinac added.

“Two or three years ago we were competing against the top-four sides but we weren’t getting there and we still had a few 100-point losses.

“I think from last year getting a few wins against Geelong and Collingwood, sides like that, you take heaps of confidence out of it.”

The Kangaroos face another huge challenge against the Magpies on Saturday, but no matter how the game pans out, Bastinac and his team-mates will still be running hard when the whips are cracking.  

North Melbourne will hold a Good Friday training session at Arden Street from 11.30am. Get involved in the Good Friday Football conversation by using the hashtag #GFF on Twitter and registering your vote below.