A quirk of the AFL draw means North Melbourne will play St Kilda again in only seven matches and coach Brad Scott cannot wait.

The Saints remain a bogey side for the Kangaroos, who missed a chance to break into the top eight with the Sunday twilight nine-point loss at Etihad Stadium.

North certainly had their chances, holding St Kilda scoreless in the last term while spraying their own shots at goal.

The Kangaroos kicked 1.4 in the final quarter and also put two shots out of bounds on the full.

St Kilda have now won 10 of their last 13 games against the 'Roos, but Scott said the gap was closing.

"(When) we played St Kilda in the last year, we haven't been able to get the ball inside 50, we haven't been competitive against them at all," he said.

"The second half had a real feel of we were attacking them and they were defending with everything they had.

"My honest belief is we'll be better again the next time we play them.

"We'll keep improving, I'm looking forward to the next time we play them."

St Kilda's defence proved the difference and Scott said in that area of the game, they remained probably the best team in the league.

"We were coming at them, but that's why they've been in the last three grand finals (including last year's draw) ... they're so good defensively," he said.

Scott said the loss left his team bitterly disappointed, but it was pleasing that they were pressing in the last term, not trying to hold off their opposition.

"Nearly every game we played in last year, including the 11 wins, we were hanging on for dear life in the last quarter," he said

"We've worked really, really hard as a footy club on that conditioning aspect."

The simple fact for the Kangaroos is they're improving, but not quite polished enough.

"We've got to look at the facts and the facts are we're on the right track, our players are really confident in what we've put in place," Scott said.

"But we're not quite professional enough in the really key moments to get the job done."

Scott praised key position players Lachie Hansen and Cam Pedersen, who switched roles after half time.

After a physical duel with Saints captain Nick Riewoldt in the first half, Hansen went forward and kicked a goal.

Pedersen went onto Riewoldt and did well on him after the star forward returned to form in the second term with three goals.

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