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BRENT Harvey has dismissed criticism of coach Brad Scott's tactics in North Melbourne's loss to St Kilda last Sunday.

Some commentators criticised Scott for allowing Saints playmaker Brendon Goddard too much latitude and leaving defender Sam Fisher free to double-team spearhead Drew Petrie. They were also critical of North's tendency to bomb the ball long to Petrie when he was out-manned.

But Harvey said such criticism was off the mark.

"I'm not sure why people would question the coach's decisions. He's a very, very good coach," Harvey said at Aegis Park on Wednesday.

"We back Brad and his decisions in every single week. He's got a fantastic group of assistants around him, so they're doing a great job."

Harvey said North was unlikely to change its focus of kicking the ball long to Petrie against Collingwood this Sunday, pointing out the tactic had worked well in North's four consecutive wins prior to the St Kilda loss.

"Drew's an outstanding player. He just gives you a contest so we know what we're going to get," Harvey said.

"Look eight or nine times out of 10, 'Drewy' will mark it and if he doesn't he brings it ground, and that's where blokes like Leigh Adams, myself, Daniel Wells and Lindsay Thomas come into the game.

"We won't change too much. We want to be really predictable to each other and part of that is getting the ball as long as we can down to Drewy."

Harvey was speaking at North's annual Harvey's Heroes day, which, despite wintry conditions, attracted a record attendance of more than 900 young North supporters.

The North skipper said his teammates were looking forward to taking on the reigning premier this Sunday, confident they had improved since the Magpies thrashed them by 87 points in round two.

Harvey said the Kangaroos' main areas of improvement had been their skill efficiency, goalkicking accuracy - despite their struggles in front of goal against the Saints - their greater understanding of Scott's game plan and the development of their young players, such as Shaun Atley, Kieran Harper and Luke Delaney, and the mid-level players he had publicly challenged to step up after the round two loss to the Magpies.

"We're probably a good year away from being where (the Magpies) are, or maybe a little bit more," he said.

"But we're introducing young guys … and they went through that period as well. It's just a huge challenge for us."

Harvey said North's emerging group of youngsters and mid-level players meant its playing list ran deeper than it had for years.
 
"We've got some young guys coming through from underneath," he said. "It's the first time for a long time our footy club has had pressure from underneath to get a game. And that's the position we want to be in."

Harvey said the opportunity to play top-four sides Collingwood, Hawthorn and Carlton over the next five rounds was exciting and ensured North would have to earn the right to play in the finals.

"If we're going to play finals footy we'll be good enough to play finals footy. We won't just scrape in (by) beating the teams we're meant to beat," he said.

Harvey also said playing seven of its last eight games at Etihad Stadium gave North a great opportunity to make a run at the finals.

Nick Bowen covers North Melbourne news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @NickBowen71.