WHEN North Melbourne included tall forward Lachie Hansen for his first game for the season, against Adelaide in round 13, it could hardly have been known that his presence would ignite the Roos' run towards the finals.

Hansen kicked only one goal in the 32-point victory over the Crows, but in the eight games since his elevation the Roos have lost only one game, to West Coast by two points.

Hansen has kicked 14 goals in his eight games, including four against Carlton in round 16, but more importantly he's contributed to the triple-pronged forward line that's done so much to unsettle opposition backlines.

After being much maligned during his six-season career, the 24-year-old is a vital member of a potent attacking trio.

The other members of the trio are Drew Petrie, who's in form to match any stage of his career, and Robbie Tarrant, who finally has overcome injury worries to become a weekly contributor.

Petrie had an average of just under two goals a game during the period to round 12.

Since Hansen's elevation he's kicked 29 goals, including successive bags of seven, at an average of just under four goals a game.

Tarrant hadn’t kicked a goal in his four games before Hansen's elevation; North Melbourne coach Brad Scott had felt compelled to defend his place in the team, noting that Tarrant had played his role in contributing to a large attacking scheme.

Scott now looks if not a genius, then certainly an excellent coach.

Tarrant kicked four goals during Hansen's first match.

He's since kicked two more bags of four, against West Coast and Melbourne, on his way to a highly respectable 20 goals, which is an average of 2.5 goals a game for those eight games.

North's average score per game has gone from 104 for the first 11 games to 116 since then, which is a hefty two-goal difference.

The only inference to be drawn is that the attack featuring three permanent tall forwards, for all its unfashionable qualities, is doing the trick.

One of the facets of North's game that makes the tall trio work is the Roos' speed in bringing the ball through the middle of the ground, which is also an unfashionable ploy.

Since the success of Collingwood in 2010, many clubs have used the Mick Malthouse ploy of taking the ball around the boundary, a ploy that lessens the risk of being punished on the counter-attack.

North, however, is prepared to risk the danger of turnovers and play a run-and-gun game through the corridor, reminiscent of Geelong in the 2007-08 period.

Only some of North's attacking stats have improved since Hansen's inclusion.

The Roos have gone from the fourth-ranked for goals once inside 50 to third. They’ve moved up on uncontested possessions from third to second.

The biggest improvements have been in disposal efficiency and inside 50 differentials.

The disposal efficiency ranking has gone up from eighth to second, indicating that more Roos are finding the ball in the clear and can steady before getting rid of the it.

They've also gone from 12th to fourth on inside 50 differentials rankings.

Their method of attack through the middle of the ground is clearly getting the ball into attack more often.

On the flipside, centre clearance figures have plummeted; the Roos have gone from the top-ranked centre clearance team to seventh, which is surprising.

Maybe the dominance of the tall forward is offsetting the centre clearance figures.

In terms of contested possessions, the Roos have slipped from 10th to 13th.

As they've become more of an outside team, their results have improved.

It's a far cry from the days — not so long ago — when North teams were renowned for their dourness and blue-collar team ethic.

Scott and the recruiting staff should take credit for selecting players who can carry out their high-risk game-plan.

Scott can also take credit for instilling confidence in his players to carry out those plans.

The unlikely figure of Hansen can also take credit.

After a career that's been marred by indifferent performances, he's proved the harbinger of good fortune.