North Melbourne coach David Noble has called for calm while throwing down the gauntlet to his players for an immediate response after the Roos were dealt a 128-point hammering on Good Friday.
Noble's side allowed 20 of the final 22 goals to a Western Bulldogs side he compared to an "oncoming locomotive" as the Roos fell to their equal fourth-biggest loss – and heaviest since 1984.
Now with three losses in excess of 50 points to his name from as many games, Noble pointed to Brisbane's recent turnaround – one he oversaw as head of football – as to what the Roos are hoping to achieve.
"It's not only the players, I think it's our fans … we just need to be calm, we're on a journey," Noble said.
"We understand there's hiccups along the way, and yep, today's a bigger one than maybe what we've had, but I've been through this two or three times before and we need to be really composed on where we're going.
"I think when you play such a well-drilled team like that it becomes overwhelming at a point in time and I think for a younger group that we've got that's a real challenge. Hence you end up with something in the last quarter that is unpalatable but it's understandable."
Hosting Adelaide in nine days' time again at Marvel Stadium, Noble put the onus on his players to bounce back.
"We can't be inconsistent for our fans, we can't be inconsistent to ourselves that we just pick and choose when we want to come and play," he said.
"I'm annoyed, I want to win as I said last week, I'm not here to just have 12 months of development.
"The expectation if you're playing this level of footy, you come to play every single week and if you don't come, that comes with consequences either in selection or at the end of the year."
Jared Polec will head for scans after re-injuring the hamstring he strained during the pre-season, while Jed Anderson will need to prove his fitness after failing to return from an ankle complaint he suffered in the third term.
Key defender Aidan Corr is also expected to be sidelined for another 2-4 weeks with a foot infection that reduced him to crutches pre-game on Friday.
