North Melbourne vice-captain Jack Ziebell has urged his teammates to maintain their attacking mindset and banish thoughts of playing "safe footy" as they seek to rebound against Geelong on Saturday night.
Since returning from a four-day break, the Kangaroos have been able to conduct extended spells of match simulation, with another vigorous session held at Arden St on Wednesday.
Ziebell said the sixth-placed Roos had held a robust review in wake of the defeat to Carlton before last weekend's bye and had worked on their intensity, with a top-four finish still a mathematical possibility.
"We didn't play the way we wanted to play. Don't take anything away from Carlton, they played really well," he said.
"The review was good - the review wasn't too over the top - we had to get some things out of it and identify things we needed to fix. Through training we have gone a long way in doing that but, obviously, you can't fix anything until you play another game.
"We just have to go out with the right mindset against quality opposition that we have to play the way we want to play. If not, everyone can see what Geelong wants to do. We have got to make sure we are on top of them."
There was much to discuss in wake of the defeat to the Blues. Skipper Andrew Swallow had said the Roos had failed to get in the face of their opponents, while chairman James Brayshaw said ball use that night had been the worst he had seen from his team this season.
The Cats prevailed by 20 points at Simonds Stadium when the two teams met in round 10, one of the few failures the Roos have had against elite teams this season, having beaten Hawthorn, Fremantle and Port Adelaide.
Their willingness to regularly handball, however, has been questioned, particularly across half-back when they look to attack. Their inability to control the ball hurt against the Blues, who pounced on mistakes and had a whopping 110 uncontested marks. Allowing opponents easy marks has been a trait of the Roos' seven defeats, with unexpected losses to Brisbane, Gold Coast and the Blues hurting their aspirations.
Ziebell, who has managed shoulder and knee injuries, said the Roos needed to keep the ball moving.
"If you play safe footy, it's pretty easy to defend. You almost have to keep the ball going around a little bit. In a sense, Geelong do it the best I reckon," he said.
"They just keep the ball flipping around, they do it pretty well when they attack (through) the corridor. They move the ball - it's really hard to defend.
"We have been trying to work on some things, we'll see how they go Saturday night. Hopefully, we can be a lot more attacking and get the ball inside 50 more to our big forwards."
Ben Brown, a late withdrawal against the Blues, could return from a finger injury, while Nathan Grima, Daniel Wells, Jamie Macmillan and Joel Tippett may all return via the VFL.
"It's pretty frustrating when you have the bye, so we have to wait a couple of weeks. It's been good to have a bit of time off," Ziebell said.
"The training this week has been good. It's probably a little bit more than we normally do during the week but that is because we haven't played on the weekend. The bodies are feeling a lot fresher."
