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NORTH Melbourne's remarkable season turnaround has been driven by its second- and third-tier players, and has it well placed to make an impact in the finals, midfielder Leigh Adams says.

Adams, who overcame a right shoulder injury caused by Chris Judd's controversial 'chicken wing' tackle to take his place in North's win over Richmond on Sunday, told SEN radio the Roos' lesser lights had resolved to lift after the 115-point loss to Hawthorn in round 10.

After that loss North sat 12th on the ladder with a 4-6 record that included just one win against a team outside the bottom four (Geelong in round three).

However, since then the Kangaroos have won five of its six games - their only loss coming against West Coast by two points in round 15 - and now sit in eighth spot.

"After that humiliating loss we had to Hawthorn we sat down as a group and worked on what we thought we had to work on," Adams said.

"It was just a lot about those blokes who were in the second- and third-tier, players that needed to step up a little bit and make sure that we didn't leave too much to Drew Petrie and Andrew Swallow and Brent Harvey.

"If we were going to win games of footy and win big games of footy it was going to be those second- and third-tier players who stood up and got us those wins.

"In the last six weeks those boys have probably been the better players in the team."

Although Adams was reluctant to look beyond North's remaining six games of the home and away season, he said the team's form would stand up in September.

"I think we realise we're starting to play some pretty good footy and we think that we're playing footy that will hold up in September if we do happen to make it there," Adams said.

"But we've still got some pretty tough games to go. If we can get a couple more wins on the board and play some good footy against those top teams I think we'll deserve to be there in September.

"If we do make it there, I think we'll be pretty confident."

Adams said he had been in "a lot of doubt" about playing against the Tigers following his tangle with Judd that earned the Carlton skipper a four-game suspension.

"I didn't train all week. I just had to make sure that I did everything right by my shoulder," Adams said.

But he said his shoulder had pulled up well after Sunday's game and besides needing "a little clean-up at the end of the year" had "come out pretty much unscathed" from the Judd incident.

Adams said it had been nice to receive a phone call from Judd in the wake of their clash.

"It was nice just to hear from him and just to know that there's no malice in it. You can put if behind us and move on."

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