NORTH Melbourne's growing maturity has driven the club's recovery from a horror start to the season, according to coach Brad Scott.
The Roos, who began the season with a shellacking at the hands of Adelaide, squared their win-loss record at 2-2 with a gritty 16-point win over Geelong on Sunday.
The Kangaroos struggled to get a foothold into the game in the early stages as they trailed a fired-up Geelong by 19 points at the first change.
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But Scott's men gradually worked their way back into the contest and then finished full of running to boot four of the game's last five majors to seal their first win at Simonds Stadium since 2007.
"I describe it as a really mature performance," Scott said after the game.
"The natural instinct can be when you are under pressure as a team like we were … as a coach you are concerned that the players can go into their shell and to the guys' credit they responded well."
Despite giving away such a substantial first-quarter lead, Scott refused to panic as his side started to correct its wayward ball use.
North's ability to hit more targets through the arcs allowed it to rebound with purpose, which caught the Cats out in transition on numerous occasions.
"We had a pretty strong feeling that if we got some composure we could wrestle momentum back," Scott said.
"They (Geelong) are a really proud football club – they didn't surprise me at the start, the way they came out."
Click here to watch Brad Scott's full post-match media conference
In keeping with the 'maturity' theme, the Kangaroos were aided by coming of age performances from Robbie Tarrant, Sam Wright and Ben Jacobs who were all influential in the back half.
Scott said the presence of Tarrant, who has battled numerous injury complaints throughout his eight-year career at North, gave his side added flexibility when competing against sides, which possesses 'gorilla' key forwards.
Despite turning 26 on Saturday, it was Tarrant's 41st game for North Melbourne.
"We have had trouble with (Tom) Hawkins in the past, in particular, so I think Robbie Tarrant, if he can get some continuity in his footy … he is going valuable player for us," Scott said.
"He has been at North longer than I have - we saw him play forward early on (in his career) but the team needed a big strong key defender, he is just a fantastic athlete he just needed to get some continuity to be able to show what he can do."
Scott said his side knew Geelong had faced significant challenges in the lead-up to Sunday's game, including the absence of key players, and it was just a matter of hanging in to turn the game in their favour.
"We just needed to fight it out and persist and make sure the wheel turned our way at the end and fortunately it did and fortunately we had players who forced it to turn," Scott said.
Even with the Roos' season seemingly back on track, the tasks do not get any easier with Hawthorn, fresh off a disappointing loss to Port Adelaide on Saturday night, next on the agenda.
Scott said he watched with interest as the Power outplayed the Hawks on home turf.
"Anyone can beat anyone on any given day – if you're off a little bit early like we were today, the opposition can punish you," Scott said.
"The reigning premiers coming off a loss, it doesn't get any harder than that I don't think."
