BRAD Scott believes North Melbourne's 31-point defeat of the Western Bulldogs on Sunday was an exhibition of the club's true character.

Coming off a 117-point belting at the hands of ladder-leading Collingwood the previous week, the Kangaroos responded with a gutsy and exciting performance that had the coach full of pride.

"I'm quite fortunate to be in a position where I coach the North Melbourne Football Club, because that response is a given," Scott said post-match.

"We have a unique responsibility to uphold the revered culture that this football club has, and last week was not what our football club's about, and we'll never, ever accept it.

"The response today showed the true character that's within the team."

The second-year coach was particularly pleased with his team's ability to hit back in the final quarter after the Bulldogs reduced a 33-point third quarter margin to just five points with a goal on the three quarter-time siren, and then hit the front with the first goal of the final term.

Rather than letting the game slip, Scott's players engaged in an arm-wrestle for the next 15 minutes, then finally got on top and pulled away for a convincing win.

"When the Bulldogs kicked that goal with half a second left until three quarter-time, all the momentum seemed to be going their way," Scott said.

"Our players looked pretty tired. They had to dig deep, and they did that.

"It's a good step against a side that have top four personnel."

The Kangaroos' onball group was superb against a highly credentialled opposition midfield, with Jack Ziebell (career-high 41 disposals) and Andrew Swallow (36 disposals in his 100th game) earning 17 clearances between them, and Daniel Wells (equal career-high 33 disposals) electrifying throughout.

Scott praised the efforts of all three, but saved particular plaudits for inspirational captain Brent Harvey, who collected 26 touches and kicked two important goals despite carrying a fractured thumb.

"The medicos were rightly concerned about [Harvey's thumb], but…he just said, 'I'm playing, so work out a way to get me out there,' and that's all there was to it," Scott said.

"He finds a way. He's a unique player and a unique person.

"We're really fortunate to have him at our footy club because the young players get a really good idea of what it's all about and why the really good players are so good.

"It's not just talent, it's everything else."

The Kangaroos now sit a game-and-a-half behind the eighth placed Sydney Swans, with seven wins and nine losses.

However, Scott said merely scraping into the finals and making up the numbers was less a priority than achieving a brand of football capable of consistently challenging the League's best.

"Never at any stage have we just tried to put the finger in the dyke; we've always tried to play a brand of footy that we think is going to be successful long-term," he said.

"At times I understand that's frustrating because we've suffered some pretty heavy defeats, but sometimes you've got to experience a fair bit of pain to take another step forward.

"We don't want to just stagnate and try and hold up for as long as we can, and perhaps scrape into the finals if we get a bit lucky.

"If we get there we want to be a genuine contender, and to do that it's important how we go about our footy."