The Kangaroos were thrashed by St Kilda twice last year, in round two by 104 points and in round 20 by 52 points.
But after trailing by 20 points at half-time of Sunday's game, North almost ran over the top of the Saints in the second half. In a remarkable final quarter, the Kangaroos kept the Saints scoreless and had 16 inside 50s to nine, but their inaccuracy in front of goal - they kicked 1.4 and two out-of-bounds on the full - ultimately condemned them to a nine-point loss.
Nonetheless, Scott said North's performance had shown it could now take the fight up to one of the competition's best defensive sides.
"[When] we played St Kilda last year we [weren't] able to get the ball inside 50," Scott said.
"We haven't been competitive against them at all. Whereas I thought the second half had a real feel of we were attacking them and they were defending with everything they had.
"And I still regard them as probably the best defensive unit in the competition … we were coming at them but that's why they've been in the last three Grand Finals, because they're so good defensively and they held up again."
Scott said the result was an accurate reflection of where North was as a team - an improving side that was on the right track but not yet "professional enough in the really key moments to get the job done".
However, he was particularly pleased with the fitness gains the Kangaroos have made since last season, saying his team's ability to run out the final quarter against the Saints was a credit to the club's fitness and medical staff.
"Every game we played last year, including the 11 wins, we were hanging on for dear life in the last quarter, so we've worked really, really hard at the footy club on that conditioning aspect," Scott said.
"The players that are out there are really well conditioned and to be able to come at a more experienced side like St Kilda were tonight I think that shows good signs, but we're still not there and we know that."
Scott was not overly concerned by the fact St Kilda racked up 106 more uncontested possessions than North and 108 uncontested marks to 38, saying those statistics told a "distorted story" of the game and pointing out that the contested possessions had been equal (141 a piece).
Scott said North would have a "really close look" at the nine-minute period in the second quarter when St Kilda piled on five unanswered goals to take a 20-point lead into half-time but had been pleased with his team's effort overall.
"We really felt that for the most part we were playing some pretty good footy and we were really confident that we could get back in the game. We got back into the game but not enough to snatch the victory," he said.
Scott praised the performance of Cameron Pedersen, who kept Nick Riewoldt goalless in the second half after the Saints skipper had kicked three goals on Lachie Hansen in the first two quarters.
