BRAD Scott did not mince words when describing North Melbourne's record 117-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.

"It was a disgraceful performance really from everyone involved," Scott said.

"We came here today hoping to get a good indication of where we were at. And I hope that performance is a total aberration because it's not reflective of the work we've done."

North's loss surpassed its previous highest loss to Collingwood,  113 points in round 14, 1937, at Victoria Park. It also continued its poor recent record against the Magpies - it has lost its past four games against them by an average of 80.5 points.

The Kangaroos coach had been confident in the lead-up to Sunday's game that North had improved significantly since its 87-point loss to the Magpies in round two.

But he conceded after the match North was not in the same league as the reigning premier, saying the Magpies had systematically taken his team apart.

"They're the best in the competition because when you've got the ball they do everything in their power to get it back," Scott said.

"They are the best side in the competition at making other sides look poor. They take away the opposition's strengths and they utilise theirs with devastating effect.

"They've done that to us a couple of times now. The end result is not reflective of two or three or four players just blowing us out of the water. In the midfield we competed, our clearance work was good … it was a systematic defeat."

But Scott was adamant Sunday's record margin overstated the gulf North had to bridge to challenge the competition's top sides.

And, although conceding the Kangaroos had been unable to match it with Collingwood and Geelong this year, Scott said they had been competitive with all other teams they'd played and sat among the bracket of sides competing for spots four to 12 on the ladder.

"We're not where we need to be, but the great thing is we have chances against the (Western) Bulldogs, Carlton and Hawthorn … we've got opportunities to show that performance is not reflective of where we're at," he said.

Scott praised the performances of Collingwood midfielders Dane Swan (38 disposals), Scott Pendlebury (29) and Dale Thomas (26), saying they had overwhelmed a North on-ball division that had been too reliant on Daniel Wells and Jack Ziebell.

Scott said Lindsay Thomas' ongoing nightmare in front of goal - he missed a set shot from 15m out almost directly in front in the third quarter - was a mental issue that had plagued him for some time.

Scott said he was not tempted to write the loss off without subjecting his players to a full-scale video review of the game.

"We will break this down to the nth degree. We need to spend a lot of time on this review and we'll study it in detail," he said.

Scott said the loss would show him which of his players could respond to adversity.

"It's a terrible experience to have to go through but Kieran Harper and Shaun Atley and Ryan Bastinac, all the first and second-year players, it's something they've got to go through," Scott said.

"And what we watch the closest … when things are sailing along smoothly everyone pats you on the back, but I think times like this give you a much better indication because you judge people on how they respond to these circumstances and we'll find that out in seven days' time."

As he has done all season, Scott reiterated nothing would deviate him from his long-term plan to get his players playing a style of football he believed would eventually take North to the top of the ladder.