NORTH Melbourne coach Dean Laidley said the Kangaroos will not focus on a top four finish until they've secured a position in this year's finals.
The Kangaroos have jumped from 10th to fifth position on the ladder courtesy of Sunday's 28-point win over Melbourne, and are just one game away from equalling the fourth-placed Sydney Swans on premiership points.
Laidley said the club did not use the potential for such a momentous shift in ladder position as motivation for Sunday's game, and said much can still change between now and September.
"We spoke about not getting caught up in that sort of stuff. Our task today was to come out here and beat Melbourne, and that's what we did, which was very pleasing," he said, at the MCG.
"There's going to be a lot of speculation about who's going to finish where and what injuries and so forth, and that makes it pretty difficult for coaches at this time of the year.
"Everyone, particularly the media, wants to talk about what's going to happen, and that's their job, and our job is to make sure we're concentrating on every kick, mark, handball, contest because if you don't and you take your eye off the ball for one second, as we've seen over the weekend, the results can go either way.
"You can't make the top four unless you make the top eight. Until you win enough games to play finals, you then think about making the top four.
"It's only the end of round 17. Tell me where we are the end of round 22."
He also said it was important to claim the win on Sunday given the number of upsets currently shaping the close competition.
"Looking at the results over the weekend, with no injuries and four points, I think it's probably critical at this stage of the year," he said.
"I thought our first quarter was pretty good, but they wanted to throw a heap of players behind the footy and we were holding our line and they were holding their line.
"That's when you get ugly footy, when those sorts of things happen."
North Melbourne now travels to meet the Brisbane Lions next Saturday night at Carrara, where the Kangaroos have lost two of their past three matches.
Laidley said the prospect of facing a local side at the Gold Coast oval will not factor into his considerations this week, and is not expecting the Lions to have an advantage.
"I don't want to sound condescending, but we honestly don't think about those sorts of things in football," he said.
"It's an oval, it's got a fence around it, there's 18 players and they've got 18 and out you go and play.
"We don't think about playing here, there and everywhere. We've had to do a hell of a lot of travelling, but this will be our last travel in the home and away season.
"We just have to make sure we get up there and put a good performance in."
