BRENT Harvey's clash with Daniel Kerr late in North Melbourne's 96-point elimination final loss to West Coast was borne out of the Roos' determination not to be walked over, skipper Andrew Swallow says.

Harvey appeared to make high contact with Kerr with his elbow just before three-quarter time in Sunday's game at Patersons Stadium.

The blow sent Kerr to the ground but he quickly got back onto his feet and played out the game.

Asked after the game whether Harvey's action was borne out of frustration, Swallow said he was not sure exactly what had happened, but suggested North's players had vowed to stand up to the Eagles.

"When things aren't going your way and the other team's going really well and you're in a hostile environment, you want to make sure that you're not getting walked over and the guys felt like they needed to do something," Swallow said.

North coach Brad Scott also said post-match he had not seen the Harvey-Kerr incident, but suggested the 34-year-old Roo had endured a torrid day with Eagles run-with player Adam Selwood by his side.

"I see 'Boomer' is battered and bruised as he always is. He puts up with a lot every single week," Scott said.

"It's a challenge for him every week to remain composed and to regain his composure when he inevitably loses it because of the attention he cops.

"That's the sign of a good side. They had Adam Selwood doing his job and we need to develop a player like that, someone who can go to someone like Luke Shuey and just terrorise him all day."

Meanwhile, Swallow couldn't question his teammates' effort and clearance work against the Eagles, saying they had simply been unable to get back into the game after West Coast raced to a 43-point lead at quarter-time.
 
"Full credit to the Eagles - they came out and played some really good footy. They were really proactive [and] ran hard," Swallow said.

"I thought that in the third quarter we really started to wrestle the momentum back. But we just couldn't go on from there.

"I thought some of our guys played really well. But we probably didn't get that contribution across the board."

Swallow said playing in Sunday's game would be an invaluable experience for North's players, especially its 13 finals debutants.

"It was unlike any other game I've played for a long time, just the intensity of it," Swallow said.

"It will be great for our young guys. It is disappointing but we've got to look forward to next year now and move on."

Swallow said the 96-point loss would also be a spur for North over the coming pre-season.

"You don't walk away from a game like that feeling good. It's just going to sit in the pit of your stomach for a while so we've just to got to mull that one over over the pre-season," Swallow said.

"We'll go away, have some time off and regroup and get over to Utah and kick off our pre-season."

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