North Melbourne’s momentum-shifting 69-point round nine win was the result of weeks of hard work and persistence, according to assistant coach Jade Rawlings.
“We just got back to playing the way that we train, the way that we believe we’re capable of and imposed ourselves in the game, instead of waiting to see what the game would provide for us,” Rawlings told SportFM Perth on Monday.
“When you start losing your form usually your game style starts to get broken down and you start second guessing which bit to go after, and in a coaching sense, what you should train.
“Then when you put emphasis on one part of your game, another part lets you down, so that was a progression over a four-to-six week period.”
Following six straight losses, the Roos finally returned to the winners' list, and Rawlings said a cool head from coach Rhyce Shaw was vital.
“One of the good things about our coach in Rhyce is he's steadfast on how he wants the game played and what maximises our capabilities as a list, and we kept training it," he said.
“We reinforced the things that we stand for and obviously in selection made a couple of statements in relation to form and role-playing.
“Decisions were based upon the individuals and their performances and capacity to play the way we want them to play and meet the level that we’re after, and that then sends a message to everyone that no one’s off limits.”
With North's next game just around the corner, on Wednesday, Rawlings said recovery would be key.
“It’s a competitive advantage for the team who can embrace the four-day break and maximise the recovery opportunities,” he said.
“We have a really experienced strength and conditioning team and they were able to put some stuff on the agenda for the players on how they need to think minute-by-minute, let alone day-by-day when it’s such a short turnaround.
“The capacity to do enough to get your body moving again without tipping over and still dealing with the fatigue by Wednesday … we want to try and get rid of the fatigue and have them feeling as energetic as they can by gameday.”
Rawlings said he was optimistic about the team's on-field progression.
“I’m really open minded,” he added.
“A bit of opportunity beckons and anything can happen, that’s our mindset, that’s how we’ve approached the last couple of weeks despite not getting the results we wanted.
“Hopefully we can get on a bit of a run and who knows where it will take us.
“Three weeks ago when we started to go down the gurgler a bit with our form and you start to have concerns about where it could lead moving forward, but things can change pretty quick.
“We’ve had our bad patch and we would hope that we’ve come out the other side now and start providing our best footy against some good opponents.”
North takes on Geelong on Wednesday night at the Gabba.
