Few saw it coming but coach Brad Scott says North Melbourne's hot AFL form is being driven by an evolution in their game style rather than something new.
The Kangaroos continue to exceed expectations, surging from a 15th-placed finish in 2017 to fifth midway through this season.
North are favourites to continue their winning ways against Brisbane on Sunday and their relatively soft draw means a top-four finish can't be ruled out.
Scott has overseen the AFL's stingiest defence across the first 10 weeks of the season and enjoyed strong production from the likes of Ben Cunnington and Jed Anderson in the midfield and Coleman Medal leader Ben Brown up forward.
But he maintains there's nothing new about the Roos beyond the fact they've had a better run with injuries.
"The way we're playing this year is not brand new in 2018," Scott said on Thursday.
"It's been an evolution over a period of time. We weren't able to execute that as well as we would have liked last year but we had some challenges with that too. We had a lot of personnel change at the start of the year and then we got hit with a lot of injuries throughout the year.
"The continuity is important to that, and now the players are able to execute what we've really been working on for three years."
While the Roos' improved performance has inevitably raised expectations around their performance, Scott said it hadn't been a focus around the club.
He also deflected questions about off-contract trio Jarrad Waite, Scott Thompson and Ben Jacobs as well as the prospect of North again chasing a big-name free agent.
Waite continues to defy Father Time, snaring bags of four goals against Greater Western Sydney and three against Fremantle over the past fortnight.
The 35-year-old has been rested once already this season and Scott said that could be repeated later in the season.
Fullback Sam Durdin is expected to line up against the Lions at Etihad Stadium just days after colliding head-on with Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands.
"He's fine," Scott said.
"He was 100 per cent clear the next morning and passed his concussion test. He'll train fully today and barring mishap, he'll be available."
