An improved draw and a slice of luck with injuries should be just about enough to lift North Melbourne into the AFL top eight after two consecutive ninth placings.

Last year the Kangaroos didn’t win a game until round six, after two trips to Perth and a clash with reigning premiers Collingwood plus a bye in the opening four rounds.

In 2012, the fixture appears much more favourable.

North coach Brad Scott is upbeat about his side’s key-position stocks and the leadership on offer from new skipper Andrew Swallow and his 21-year-old offsider Jack Ziebell.

Ex-captain Brent Harvey will be handed a creative role up forward and ruckmen Todd Goldstein and Hamish McIntosh will be given every chance to prove they can work in tandem.

Goldstein was an All-Australian nominee last year as injury restricted McIntosh, a dual All-Australian nominee himself, to one senior game.

It’s not hard to make a case for North going one better than their 10-12 record of last season, especially with only one trip to Perth plus one game against the Magpies and two matches each against lowly Gold Coast and newcomers Greater Western Sydney.

But Scott is wary of reading too much into the draw.

“Everyone thought if they got West Coast twice last year it was a good result. Halfway through the year they changed their minds,” Scott told AAP.

“What can look like a reasonable fixture can change pretty dramatically.

“People would say Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium in round five, mark that one down.

“People are going to be very surprised as to how the Gold Coast roll out this year. Their rate of improvement is going to be significant.”

Nine of North’s 10 wins last year came after round seven.

“If you look at the final eight, it doesn’t change much after about round six or seven,” Scott warned.

“It might change by one or two spots maximum.

“Come round one, provided we remain at the same availability percentage we have now, we think we’ll be really well-prepared to start the season well.”

Drew Petrie – who was also in the mix to replace Harvey as skipper before the club went with Swallow – is the first forward picked each week.

The other marking target could be Robbie Tarrant, with inconsistent 2006 No.3 draft pick Lachie Hansen vying for a defensive role after struggling as a forward.

“We probably have more key-position players on our list than anyone else in the competition,” Scott enthused.

“When it comes to key posts both forward and back, we’re still looking to find what is our best combination.

“We have a lot of options in the defensive half. We’ve got Luke Delaney, Cameron Delaney, Cameron Pedersen can play both ends, Scott Thompson, Nathan Grima, there’s a lot of players coming through there.

“In comparing our pre-season this year to last year, we’ve certainly improved. The health of our list is quite good.

“We’ve got a better platform and a better foundation right now than we did 12 months ago.

“The natural assumption is that if you improve and you finished last ninth last year well you’ll play finals.

“That’s not the case at all. It’s a new season.”

Scott says the crash-through style of Swallow, Ziebell and Ben Cunnington, plus the silky skills of last year’s equal-club champion Daniel Wells – once he recovers from a blood-clot problem – will stand the club in good stead.

“I would never put any limitations on what this group could achieve, even though other than GWS and Gold Coast, we’re the second-most inexperienced team,” Scott said.

“That presents a challenge in itself but you should never under-estimate youth.”