North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says he's amazed by the willingness of rival AFL clubs to stick the boot into the Kangaroos.

Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett feels poorer clubs like North struggle to keep pace with the league's powerhouses while Geelong chief executive Brian Cook says the Kangaroos made a mistake by rejecting a $100 million offer to relocate to the Gold Coast.

After a demoralising defeat against fellow strugglers Richmond at Etihad Stadium last weekend, North find themselves on the bottom of the ladder after five rounds with their off-field and on-field performances under attack.

"I'm amazed how often people want to talk about other football clubs," Scott told reporters on Thursday.

"We're only concerned about our own and the things we've got to do.

"I'm just concerned about what we can do to fix our on-field performance.

"Everyone else's opinions are just that."

Scott's comments come a day after North chief James Brayshaw said on the Nine Network that Cook and Kennett should worry about their own clubs.

Sydney's 2005 premiership coach Paul Roos criticised the lack of pace in North's midfield earlier this week, adding to the heat on the men from Arden Street to lift for Saturday's clash with Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.

Scott said he felt Roos made some valid points.

"The two boys he mentioned, Jack Ziebell and Ben Cunnington, have had very interrupted careers so far (by injuries)," Scott said.

"We understand they've got a lot of work to do and more importantly they know they've got some work to do.

"They're outstanding young men and they're going to be outstanding young footballers."

Ziebell, 20, has suffered two broken legs in the past two years and has been labelled "one-paced" by commentators.

Scott said both players had come off limited preparations in pre-season.

"But we've got absolute confidence in where they're going to get to as footballers," he said.

Scott claimed he'd be happy to lose to Port if the Kangaroos showed improvement in key areas such as decision-making and goalkicking accuracy.

Richmond came from behind with a seven-goal final term to beat North by nine points after the Kangaroos kicked 2.8 in the last quarter.

"If we go out and fix those fundamental areas that we've really been working hard on, then even if we don't get the result I'll be a happier coach because we've fixed those areas and on a consistent basis we'll start getting the results," he said.

Scott said he expected Port to be "breathing fire" after their embarrassing loss to new club Gold Coast last weekend.

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