Clearly upset by the loss, Scott denied there had been any temptation to hold back tactically in anticipation of the two teams meeting again in the finals.

The lack of energy among his midfielders was unusual, Scott said, so it did not concern him too much.

"They've been up for a long time, they've been terrific for us, it's not something that's happened much before," he said.

The loss was a "downer", Scott said, and the Kangaroos had not been keeping anything aside to surprise the Bulldogs with in September.

"I don't think you can play a brutal contact sport when you're doing that, even tactically. We've built some really good momentum, we've built a really good platform to go into finals, so we wanted to keep that going."

North Melbourne's Shaun Atley gave away a free kick when he laid a dangerous tackle on Lachie Hunter, lifting him off the ground in the process.

The incident may be looked at by the match review panel, but Scott refused to comment on it and Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge would say only that the free kick was deserved.

Beveridge said he was very satisfied with the win, which came after a big loss to the West Coast in Perth.

To win in a tightly fought match against a strong opponent would be good for the team's self belief, he said.

North Melbourne had more tall players and therefore were better in marking contests, but the Bulldogs had found a way to combat that advantage.

"We knew it was a vulnerability for us, they probably saw it as a strength, and they utilised it for most of the night, it was a good effort to mitigate how many goals they kicked from it," Beveridge said.

The two teams may meet again in the first round of the finals and there isspeculation around whether the AFL would schedule that match at Etihad or the MCG.

Beveridge said it did not matter to him where they played while Scott said North loved Etihad, but it was unlikely to impact on the game.