After several ups and downs over nine seasons, Brad Scott is suddenly back in the finals hunt. Photo: AFL MEDIA

Brad Scott has waited a long time for this.

After almost a decade at the helm, the North Melbourne coach is within touching distance of sustainable contender status at Arden Street.

That the Roos are applying the finishing touches to the first full scale, organic rebuild under Scott’s watch could be perceived in some quarters as a black mark against the former Lions star.

Yet, nothing could be further from the truth.

Indeed, it has been the artful manner in which Scott has negotiated his topsy-turvy time at the Kangaroos that has enabled the club to delay construction for so long.

But it’s when compared to his coaching peers’ experiences that the challenges confronted by the former Brisbane premiership player can be fully appreciated.

For rarely has a coach been asked to do more with less and emerged intact, blinking amidst the glow of a bright new dawn.

The Arden Street that Scott walked into as a first-time coach in late 2009 was in a profound state of limbo.

North Melbourne’s 13th place finish represented the official end of the club’s 1990s-spawned golden era, and yet a mediocre playing list made the Kangaroos’ future difficult to embrace.

Scott’s assignment was a far cry from the relative-driverless cars that his twin brother Chris and John Longmire took over at Geelong and Sydney respectively ahead of their premiership success.

A North side with a handful of stars – headlined by Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Daniel Wells and co. – a workmanlike supporting cast and limited green shoots screamed rock bottom.

Unperturbed and without a major overhaul, Scott guided the club to two ninth place finishes before a finals appearance in 2012.

A drop off the next season left North Melbourne at the crossroads.

Conventional wisdom pointed to a scorched earth-style rebuild.

But as a small, struggling club, North Melbourne’s relevance, indeed survival, has always depended on thinking outside the square.

In a decision said to have been made with one eye on the looming spectre of Greater Western Sydney’s (yet to be realised) dominance, North Melbourne went all in.

Cue the arrival of Nick Dal Santo – and one year later – Shaun Higgins and Jarrad Waite, a short term premiership tilt and a new challenge for Scott.

That he was able to immediately flick the win-now switch and guide a relatively no-frills team to two consecutive preliminary final appearances was a coaching masterclass.

Even more so when you consider current coaching darling, Nathan Buckley’s four-year stint in the footballing wilderness effectively trying to do the same thing.

And then it was suddenly time for Scott to tear it all down.

Not only that, but he had the unenviable job of bringing the curtain down on favourite sons Harvey and Petrie, much to the chagrin of the blue and white faithful, particularly over the famous No. 29’s departure.

For no one clings to a champion – let alone one that represents the last remaining link to a halcyon period – tighter than a battling club with a shaky contemporary identity.

It didn’t help that North Melbourne then proceeded to very publicly swing and miss on the recruitment of a series of high profile stars.

A 15th place finish in 2017 was widely regarded as merely the first sacrifice at the rebuilding altar, only for Scott to have the resurgent Kangaroos knocking on the door of the finals by last season’s end.

Now, having completed the off-season coup of landing talented quartet, Jared Polec, Jasper Pittard, Dom Tyson and Aaron Hall, North Melbourne is suddenly back in the finals hunt.

And that leads to perhaps the most interesting comparison of all, with Richmond’s golden child Damien Hardwick.

Having both begun coaching in 2010, Hardwick’s record of 111 (wins) – 93 (losses) – 2 (draws) is remarkably similar to Scott’s 103-98-0.

Of course, it’s the 2017 Tigers’ premiership and the quality of the current Richmond side that separates the two coaches in public opinion.

But remember it took Hardwick seven long years – during which time the Tigers’ never progressed past the first week of the finals – to successfully complete his only task, a rebuild.

This despite Hardwick inheriting an elite young core of Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt and Alex Rance, whom few would argue represent a major upgrade on Ben Cunnington, Jack Ziebell, Todd Goldstein and name-the-lesser-light handed to Scott on his arrival.

Of course, these details matter little to a game where premiership cups are king. But for North Melbourne, they speak to a coach who will consider the club’s imminent premiership window as just another challenge to overcome.