When North Melbourne beat the favoured Richmond by 17 points on Sunday afternoon it was the third consecutive year the Tigers had made a finals series, only to be immediately knocked out.

Vickery told SEN radio on Tuesday evening there were a lot of exciting young players in the team, including defender Brandon Ellis and Rising Star nominee Ben Lennon.

"Also, we're just becoming a better team every year in terms of just our execution of the game plan consistently," he said.

"We just need more guys stepping up regularly to take the pressure off our best players."

When the players got together on Monday the mood of the group was sombre, Vickery said, but they felt it important to celebrate the careers of those leaving the club.

Midfielder Nathan Foley was forced to quit the game with a knee injury, and Chris Knights, Ricky Petterd and Chris Newman were all retiring.