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North Melbourne caretaker coach Rhyce Shaw says he's not thinking about the AFL finals despite his players pulling off a huge upset against Collingwood.

Whether it's his AFL future or North Melbourne's unlikely finals hopes, Rhyce Shaw knows the only public statement that really matters is "W".

So the Kangaroos caretaker coach let Saturday night's outstanding upset win over Collingwood speak for itself.

The 44-point triumph is being called the upset of the season and it leaves North Melbourne only a game plus percentage outside the top eight.

But Shaw refused to be drawn into talk about September, saying his only concern had been the next challenge.

"This was a huge challenge for us, playing against Collingwood - at Marvel (Stadium), on a fast deck against a really quality midfield," he said.

"That's enough challenge for me to worry about.

"It was really well executed by the boys."

The win leaves Shaw with an impressive 3-1 record since taking over from Brad Scott.

North are putting out the feelers to Sydney coach John Longmire, but Shaw is building a compelling case that the club might already have their man.

Apart from inaccurate goalkicking, Saturday night was a complete performance by the Kangaroos.

"I'd love to coach this football team, no doubt," Shaw said.

"But that's a long way down the road at the moment.

"I'm just trying to get through to Monday.

"I'm by no means perfect ... every day is a new challenge."

While North are a new team with the coaching change, Shaw said the players deserve credit for the sudden improvement.

"I don't know, I really can't put my finger on it," he said when asked what had changed at Arden St.

"The boys have just banded together, I think, and really concentrated on each other and the way they want to play.

"It is a player-driven team, they really are tight, they work really well for each other.

"We give them the direction, they try and execute. They've really narrowed their focus in on that over the last four weeks."

The only disappointment for the Kangaroos on Saturday night was Kyron Hayden's disastrous AFL debut.

Hayden suffered an achilles injury in the second quarter and his season is probably over.

"It doesn't look good for Kyron ... that's really disappointing, because he's put in two months of really hard work," Shaw said.