It was third time lucky for North Melbourne on Saturday, with the side registering a win in its third consecutive game at its home away from home, Blundstone Arena.

After solid and positive showings against both GWS and Brisbane in previous weeks, North registered nine more scoring shots than its Gold Coast counterparts on the day, with the narrow nine-point margin not truly telling the story of the match.

While the narrative of development and improvement surrounding North has been strongly pushed at different points across the season, the clash with the Suns was the perfect opportunity for the Roos to show just how much they had improved over the course of 2021.

The teams had previously played in Round 2, with Gold Coast a comprehensive 59-point victor.

North almost doubled its score form the previous clash, registering 13 more scoring shots and looking in control for much of the contest.

“I think our fans are sensing I have a lot of faith in our guys that are playing the game the way we want them to play … our members have been unbelievably supportive and encouraging of where we’re going,” David Noble said after the match.

“They (the players) are growing before our eyes and I think as a group and as a club I’d like to dedicate this win to our members.

“I’ve got great confidence in the way our guys are learning and what they need to do in order to become a really good footy team.”

Holding a three-quarter time lead against Gold Coast, comparisons were immediately drawn to the Round 13 clash with GWS, where North also led at the final break before its opponent fought back.

But it was a different story this time around.

“At times you just need to take a little bit of speed out of the ball, be a little bit more calm, a little bit more composed with the ball, just try to wind the clock down a little bit,” Noble said.

“To learn from two weeks ago against GWS and find ourselves in the same position … we held our nerve really well in that last three or four minutes, which we probably didn’t do as well a couple of weeks ago.

“The frustrating thing for our group was we just didn’t put the scoreboard pressure on at the start of that last (term) … great learning and terrific resilience from the group overall.”

While the likes of Ben Cunnington, Cam Zurhaar and Jy Simpkin will deservedly take the headlines for their quality individual efforts in the win, victory in football inevitably comes as a result of team performance.

In a game filled with sliding doors moments, winning tight clashes often means other players have to step up and be counted when it’s all on the line.

David Noble says while they may not have registered the game stats of the likes of Simpkin and Cunnington, a number of players played key roles at key times.

“I think Todd’s (Goldstein) game was really good, Luke Davies-Uniacke was really good … I loved some of Jack Mahony’s front-of-square work,” he said.

“I love the way Luke McDonald is learning to play the wing, Trent Dumont the way he’s moving, I thought Ben McKay had a great game down back, Josh Walker’s playing really well. 

“They’re all learning about the time and the moments they need to contribute as part of the team … we step away from here really buoyed by our last two or three weeks.”