The true test awaits the retooled Roos.<\/p>\n
North Melbourne captain Nick Larkey admits his side is under \u201cno illusions\u201d about the easy run that has kept their finals dream alive.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s what we\u2019re aiming towards, we\u2019re here to play in finals and this wildcard round gives us a great opportunity to strive towards that even more,\u201d Larkey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little carrot dangling for us at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019re also under no illusions of the teams we\u2019ve played and the teams we\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe league is so competitive and any team on their day can win \u2026 it\u2019s a good goal for us to have in mind and it\u2019s been made easier with this wildcard round.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Kangaroos have endured an arduous rebuild, demonstrated by Larkey\u2019s 23 per cent win rate across 149 games.<\/p>\n
Larkey said the wildcard round provided added incentive for the teams making their way back up the ladder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t directly spoken about, but I think everyone looked at that and went \u2018you beauty\u2019,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit easier to play a finals game, for us, from where we\u2019ve been, but I wonder what someone like Sydney reckon when they\u2019re at the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the league\u2019s expanding, it makes sense to make the finals a bit bigger. When it came out it was extra incentive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking at giving it our best shot towards the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
North Melbourne has played with more grit than glamour over the past three weeks, rebounding from its poor loss to Fremantle in Bunbury.<\/p>\n
Larkey knows the Roos are not firing on all cylinders but says the positives outweigh the negatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely don\u2019t feel like we\u2019re playing our best footy but we\u2019re winning, so it\u2019s a big positive for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s still a heap of development left in our game, there always is.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re getting more stuff right than we are getting wrong \u2013 that\u2019s the important thing, that\u2019s why we\u2019re on the right side of the win-loss ratio.\u201d<\/p>\n