North Melbourne defender Daniel Pratt says the Kangaroos are out to rebuild their lost status as the club other AFL teams hate to play.

Pratt believes this season's 'Roos have let slip that hard-won reputation as a club whose strong spirit and work ethic means they are never out of a match.

He said Darren Crocker's appointment as caretaker coach, after Dean Laidley's resignation, provided a fresh chance to regain that standing, starting against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG on Sunday.

"We want to be a consistent side that performs every week, which has probably been our strength over the past five or six years, which we've lost this year," Pratt said.

"We just want to be a side that teams don't want to play every week.

"Teams probably still think that going into games this year, but we haven't been able to back it up.

"That's what we've done probably the last three years and that's why we finished up so high on the ladder, but this year we haven't been able to do that and haven't really given ourselves a chance."

As well as freshening up of their mental approach, Pratt said Crocker had also tinkered with the gameplan aiming to deliver a more attacking, entertaining style.

While North sit 12th on the ladder, they have scored the fewest points of any side this season, averaging just 73 points per game and topping the 100-point mark just twice in 12 rounds.

Pratt said slow, inefficient ball movement, rather than the attack itself, had been identified as the issue.

"If we're stagnant down back it gives the opposition a chance to squeeze back and defend, so we need to look to move the ball pretty quick in getting it forward and give those guys who have got a bit of talent a chance," he said.

"We're just going to try to look to play a bit more of an attacking style of game.

"We want to play football that people want to come and watch, they want to see goals and big scores."

The return of captain Brent Harvey from a long-term elbow injury should aid the club's ball movement and provide valuable leadership to a young side.

"He's been up and about at training the last two weeks and you definitely know he's out there because he's always demanding the football, which is probably what we need at the minute in the midfield," Pratt said.

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