WHEN he spoke exclusively to AFL.com.au 90 minutes before North Melbourne's clash with Essendon on Saturday night, Roos ruckman Hamish McIntosh was firing himself up to restart his career.

The 27-year-old was relaxed, but he was very keen to consign his 2011 season - in which he played only one game due to a series of Achilles tendon injuries - to the back of his memory.

"After the season I had last year I'm going into this season with quite a few nerves," he said as he teammates continued their warm-up.

Four hours later, McIntosh had the chance to cover himself in glory when he took a mark, 40m out from North Melbourne's goal on a 45 degree angle, with only seven seconds remaining in the match.

As McIntosh went back for his kick, the siren sounded with his team trailing by three points.

Suddenly, he had the chance to achieve every footballer's dream: a winning goal after the final siren.

But with more than 46,000 fans watching from the edge of their seats, the kick faded wide and North lost by two points.

While the Essendon players and supporters celebrated, McIntosh tried to get off the field as quickly as he could.

In a great show of spirit, however, his teammates flocked to him and tried to ensure the big man left the field with his head held high.

"Obviously it's a pretty emotional time," North Melbourne defender Michael Firrito explained.

"I think a few of the boys might have been going there to get ready to celebrate and it faded."

McIntosh was too upset to speak about his experience after the game.

"He's ok," Roos coach Brad Scott said. "He gave us the opportunity to win the game, didn't he?

"He's obviously pretty dejected, and basically all I said to him is there's nothing I can say right now that's going to make him feel any better.

"He's got to front up tomorrow morning, and get back into it, because there's another game next week.

"We would've been sitting here, if Hamish had kicked the goal, feeling pretty relieved because we were outplayed for large periods.

"They certainly outplayed us for longer than we outplayed them."

Firrito agreed with his coach that McIntosh's miss certainly wasn't the only mistake that the Kangaroos made on the night.

"As anyone would be after a shot after the siren and it misses, he's bitterly disappointed," Firrito said.

"But, I guess, the game should've been won before that. We don't blame him for the loss.

"But he's disappointed, as you would expect."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.