After four losses in a row, North Melbourne finally broke through against Collingwood in Round 21 last year and according to Andrew Swallow, that gives the Roos confidence going into this Sunday’s clash.

"Look, it's a new season, so anything can happen, but hopefully the confidence we got out of beating Collingwood last year will help us," Swallow told the Herald Sun’s Glenn McFarlane.

"We hadn't beaten them for a long time and we had struggled at times against the top four sides.

"But you get confidence out of knowing we matched it with them last year and we know we have improved from that.”

The second-year captain knows opening round is always significant, but acknowledges playing against the Magpies, makes it that much more exciting and intense. Getting off to the perfect start is something Swallow believes North can achieve.

"It probably doesn't get much bigger for us than taking on Collingwood in Round 1."

After a year of ups and downs, including the 96-point elimination final loss to West Coast, Swallow knows he and the rest of the players have learnt some valuable lessons.

"I think we were just so happy to get there (the finals), even though it was a shock to end up with a result like that," he said.

"When you are given a role such as that (as captain), you want to make sure you are leading from the front.

"I spent a lot of time thinking about how the group was, and probably spent less time on myself, so the fact that I managed to be really consistent was good."