The true test awaits the retooled Roos.

North Melbourne captain Nick Larkey admits his side is under “no illusions” about the easy run that has kept their finals dream alive.

But, after beating Essendon to go a win clear inside the top 10, Larkey says the carrot is dangling in front of the Roos ahead of a testing run home.

North Melbourne has Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, Melbourne and St Kilda across the next three weeks before finishing the season against Geelong and Sydney.

“It’s what we’re aiming towards, we’re here to play in finals and this wildcard round gives us a great opportunity to strive towards that even more,” Larkey said.

“It’s a little carrot dangling for us at the end of the year.

“But we’re also under no illusions of the teams we’ve played and the teams we’ve beaten, so the test will be over the next few weeks and the rest of the season if we can match it against those teams who were also in that bracket.

“The league is so competitive and any team on their day can win … it’s a good goal for us to have in mind and it’s been made easier with this wildcard round.”

The Kangaroos have endured an arduous rebuild, demonstrated by Larkey’s 23 per cent win rate across 149 games.

Larkey said the wildcard round provided added incentive for the teams making their way back up the ladder.

“It wasn’t directly spoken about, but I think everyone looked at that and went ‘you beauty’,” he said with a laugh.

“It’s a little bit easier to play a finals game, for us, from where we’ve been, but I wonder what someone like Sydney reckon when they’re at the top.

“As the league’s expanding, it makes sense to make the finals a bit bigger. When it came out it was extra incentive.

“We’re looking at giving it our best shot towards the end of the year.”

North Melbourne has played with more grit than glamour over the past three weeks, rebounding from its poor loss to Fremantle in Bunbury.

Larkey knows the Roos are not firing on all cylinders but says the positives outweigh the negatives.

“I definitely don’t feel like we’re playing our best footy but we’re winning, so it’s a big positive for us,” he said.

“There’s still a heap of development left in our game, there always is.

“We’re getting more stuff right than we are getting wrong – that’s the important thing, that’s why we’re on the right side of the win-loss ratio.”

Originally published as North Melbourne braces for ‘true test’ in difficult run home to finals