PAUL Roos has implored North Melbourne to hand Brad Scott a long-term contract and trust him to rebuild its playing list.

The Kangaroos signalled their intentions when they announced that four of the club’s most highly regarded and experienced players would not be offered contracts for 2017.

Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Michael Firrito and Nick Dal Santo played their last games for the club on Saturday evening, with North losing to Adelaide by 62 points.

With Daniel Wells’ future still up in the air, a full scale rebuild is on the cards at Arden Street.

Finals Week 1

Scott is currently locked in until the end of 2018 after signing an extension in November last year. His win-loss ratio is 54 per cent, although North won just two of their last 13 matches this season.

And Roos, who led Sydney to the 2005 flag and more recently turned Melbourne Football Club around in three years, hopes North Melbourne is patient with Scott.

“Do you think you have a good coach? That’s the most relevant point,” Roos told Fox Footy.

“What we should do is look at Scotty and say ‘yes he’s a good coach, unfortunately he hasn’t won a premiership and we all know how hard they are to win.”

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One of Roos’ biggest challenges when he took over the Demons at the end of 2013 was to rebuild the morale of the club after several poor seasons.

In doing so, he publicly stated that any person who was tainted by the past would not have a future at Melbourne.

Similarly, Roos suggested on the weekend that the Kangaroos hierarchy should consider Scott as a new coach from 2017 onwards and disregard the period he’s had at the helm.

“What you have to do is almost dismiss the seven years that have passed, because they’re gone,” he said.

“It’s almost like he (Scott) is starting again. If you keep that seven years rolling, then people say ‘he’s been there eight years etc’.”

“What we need now is a new coach — that might be the same coach — with a new time frame and new players coming in more importantly.

“The message will be fresh for all of those new guys coming in. You have to sell the dawn.”

Paul Roos. Photo Sarah Reed. Source: News Corp Australia

In response, Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton noted that simply doing the right thing internally is not enough these days.

Instead the club as a whole has to “sell the message” via its media department, leaders and external communication.

“You have to sell the message,” Brereton told Fox Footy.

“If the club believes you will come through the other side better, well then you’re good to go. But history shows there not too many (of those coaches).

Unlike Roos and Brereton, Essendon great Matthew Lloyd believes it would be best if North Melbourne had a new coach next year and Scott landed the job at the Brisbane Lions.

“I believe that in a perfect world, a fresh start would be right for North Melbourne,: Lloyd to the AFL website on Monday.

“I think he is still good enough to be coaching and that’s who I thought would be perfect for Brisbane but. With two years left of his contract, I don’t think he will be going anywhere.”