Playing at the MCG won’t change the focus of North Melbourne according to Jamie Macmillan.

For the first time since 2010, the Roos will play multiple games at the MCG in one season. Sunday’s has the potential to be bigger than most with a finals spot possibly on the line.

“It’s obviously a bigger ground but for us it’s about winning the ball at the contest,” Macmillan told NMFC.com.au.

“It’s where the game starts all the time, regardless of where you’re playing.

“That aspect of the game won’t change, so from there it’s about spreading on Collingwood and getting the ball going our way.”

It’s the second time North will face Collingwood this season. However the first meeting was the opener, almost five months ago. Therefore it’s hard to take too much out of that evening at Etihad Stadium.

“We’ve changed a fair bit since Round 1. We were playing a bit differently and we’ve improved on our defensive side of the game since then,” Macmillan explained.

“We’ll have a good look at Collingwood, see what they’ve changed and work around that as well.

“It’s more about personnel rather than team structures, so a good example would be what Scotty Thompson did on Travis Cloke.”

Despite a loss to the ladder leaders in Hawthorn, the fact that North was able to push the Hawks from siren to siren is cause for encouragement.

“The biggest thing for us from last week is that we were able to play well against probably the best side in the competition. If we can match it with them then we hope we’ll do it again this week against Collingwood.

“If we stick to what we know and carry out the plan to the best of our ability then hopefully we can have a win.”

10 losses of 16 points or less in 2013 makes for a tricky argument when deciding whether North is worthy of fighting for a finals position. It’s something Macmillan acknowledges but won’t spend too much time pondering.

“In the end it’s a good thing that finals are still on the agenda. We’re still in the hunt so hopefully this weekend we’re on the right side of the ledger and on Monday we’re in a review preparing for the first final.

“But obviously there are still a few results that have to go our way so we’ll have to wait and see what happens on Saturday first, fingers crossed.”

On a personal note, Macmillan has been steadily improving over the course of the season.

Nearing 50 consecutive games, the number 34’s ability to shut opponents out of the game without grabbing headlines has enabled him to fly under the radar. In many ways, his role is comparable to ex-Roo John Blakey, who played 224 games for the club while only collecting more than 30 disposals in a game on one occasion.

Macmillan puts his improved form of the last month down to confidence.

“The last few weeks there’s been a big focus on winning my one-on-ones, trying to bring the ball to ground or win it myself. I’ve been able to do that more often than not in the last four or five weeks and then that gives me more confidence.

“I’m not really the flashy type playing down back and on the wing, I’m more looking towards every game to do the basics well.”

Macmillan’s aims in the defensive half are simple.

“When I’m in defence I’ll try and defend, try and win my fair share of the contests and then try to get it in the hands of blokes like Fishy (Aaron Mullett) and Ats (Shaun Atley). Those guys can really run and penetrate the game.”