MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 26: Jarrad Waite of the Kangaroos kicks the ball during the 2017 AFL round 01 match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the West Coast Eagles at Etihad Stadium on March 26, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has refused to blame his side's poor goal kicking for their 43-point loss to West Coast at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Kangaroos trailed by just six points at half-time but were unable to convert their chances in the second half, as the key forward battle was a prime example of the gulf in class on the day.

North booted 13.15 to West Coast's 21.10, as Jarrad Waite missed several golden opportunities at goal to finish with a tally of 1.7, while star Eagle Josh Kennedy couldn't miss, kicking a perfect 7.0 in an impressive performance.

"It sums up a pretty large part of it," Scott said, in regards to the tallies by each key forward.

"It probably doesn't take into account the other opportunities that we missed. Obviously 'Waitey' got a lot of shots and didn't take the majority of them, but we had other areas of the game where we worked really hard to generate pretty simple opportunities and we just didn't take it.

"That's an issue in and of itself, but unfortunately too many times the ball went straight back down the other end and we got scored against, too. It was a bit of a double whammy in that area."

It wasn't just the Roos' poor kicking that saw the Eagles win big, but North struggled to shut down West Coast, with Scott labelling their defensive effort as "very poor."

"It's too simplistic to say, 'Gee, if we had have kicked straight we would've won', because I don't believe that's the case, but it would have made the game a lot more competitive," he said.

Four debutants got their first taste of AFL action during the match on Sunday for North Melbourne, as the approach moving forward by Scott is a clear one.

That doesn't mean the Roos are fine with losing game however, as Scott believes he'll be able to find the right blend between youth and experience soon enough.

"We've said a number of times we may be vulnerable at times game-to-game and quarter-to-quarter, because youth finds it hard to sustain," he said.

"But that certainly doesn't mean we're going to accept it. We'll make the necessary changes to make sure we get the guys who can sustain their effort a little better."