VIDEOS: Sam Wright and Matt Campbell interviews | Brad Scott press conference | Ziebell match-winner | Harper great goal | Join in the Chorus | Liam Anthony's long goal | Hamish's redemption | Match highlights | Lindsay Thomas goal from boundary | Thomas courage

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LITTLE more than two weeks ago, Hamish McIntosh walked off Etihad Stadium feeling about as low as it's possible to feel as a footballer.

On Sunday night, he walked off the same ground feeling as good as he has after a game for some time.

A win over the reigning premier will do that for you. Especially one where your emerging team started to play the style of football it has been working towards for the past two and a bit years. And especially one in which you have played a significant part, kicking 2.2 and taking eight marks in a recast forward/ruck role.

Not surprisingly, the joy of Sunday night's 17-point win over Geelong was amplified for McIntosh after the extreme disappointment he'd felt when he narrowly missed an after-the-siren shot at goal that would have pinched a round one win over Essendon.

"It was just such a great win to be part of," McIntosh told AFL.com.au.

"We haven't played well against the top teams for a while now, but to come out and take the game up to Geelong, who have been the best team for so long now, is just a great feeling.

"For me, the Essendon game was pretty tough. I'd well and truly moved on, but tonight certainly helps as well."

Like nearly all players, McIntosh was too modest to sing his own praises. But he said he was enjoying renewing his ruck partnership with Todd Goldstein this season after missing all bar one game of 2011 after two achilles tendon operations.

McIntosh said under their new partnership Goldstein was performing the bulk of the ruck work and he was spending more time down forward. It is a role he is comfortable with, having played as a forward in his junior days with Lavington and the Murray Bushrangers.

"I didn't play at all in the ruck until I got to North, so it's been like turning the clock back a bit," he said.

"But I've been enjoying playing up forward a bit more and just trying to provide a contest and make sure I'm applying pressure when the ball hits the ground."

McIntosh is also hurting teams on the scoreboard, having now kicked six goals in the first three rounds.

After Sunday night's game North coach Brad Scott also paid tribute to McIntosh's tackle on Corey Enright in the centre square towards the end of the second quarter, a tackle that helped preserve the Kangaroos' 21-point lead ahead of the main break.

"That really set the tone for us and really did lift the team," Scott said.

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

VIDEOS: Sam Wright and Matt Campbell interviews | Brad Scott press conference | Ziebell match-winner | Harper great goal | Join in the Chorus | Liam Anthony's long goal | Hamish's redemption | Match highlights | Lindsay Thomas goal from boundary | Thomas courage