North Melbourne are facing their fourth loss in a row as they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on Sunday, eager to make amends for their blowout 75-point loss to Brisbane in Round 5.
After starting the season strongly in Alastair Clarkson's first year at the club, with wins over West Coast and Fremantle in the opening two rounds, the Roos have sunk to three consecutive losses by a cumulative 117 points.
The Gather Round loss to Brisbane saw Lion Joe Daniher shine, booting five goals from 13 marks, dominating a North backline that conceded 22 majors.
Speaking to media on Tuesday, Clarkson admitted that work needed to be done to improve not just down back, but in the middle too.
"We just haven't had our backline group together (often enough). You need that continuity, and we saw why in pretty stark measure on the weekend," Clarkson said.
"We didn't help (that line) either, with the overuse of handball in the middle of the ground. We need to fix both up.
"Our situation is where Brisbane were five or six years ago.
"That's an evolution every side goes through. We're hoping to fast-track that, but the weekend was a hiccup. We weren't able to sustain the standard required."
The Roos will next face the struggling Suns, who are looking for their second win of the season in Round 6. With both sides occupying the bottom six of the ladder, the Sunday afternoon clash looms as an apt opportunity for one of the two to get much-needed points on the board.
The club is also yet to provide a timeline on Jy Simpkin's return to the field, with the 25-year-old suffering a hand injury in Saturday's clash against Brisbane.
Simpkin has undergone surgery to insert a plate into the broken hand, with Clarkson confirming the date of Simpkin's potential return was "uncertain".
"We're uncertain. He's had a plate inserted in his hand, so there's recovery from the wound and then from the plate insertion," Clarkson said.
"We won't know what that looks like until at least five or six days post-surgery."