A five-goal haul from Kristian Jaksch was one of a host of reasons which spurred the Northern Blues to a 55-point win over the Casey Demons.

Jaksch kicked at least a goal in each quarter as Northern accounted for last year’s grand finalists at Preston City Oval.

With four wins on the trot, it has the Blues primed for a top-four showdown against Sandringham this Saturday.

Jaksch believed yesterday’s win was a positive reflection on the club’s improvement over the last year.

“I think the messaging around the group at the moment is we’re not just going to take wins, we’re coming into games expecting to win,” Jaksch said. 

“The way in which we did that was pretty encouraging so hopefully we can keep that going.”

The last time the two sides met, Northern had a dark day at Casey Fields as their opponents ran riot.

While saying there had been considerable turnover since then, Jaksch said the loss remained in the back of the minds of the players.

“It was a great day for the club, especially when I suppose you reflect back on 12 months ago when Casey got a hold of us down there,” Jaksch said.

“We reflected more on why we’re different to 12 months ago, and [yesterday] was another good indication of how we’ve progressed.” 

Despite kicking five goals to go with his 17 disposals, Jaksch still found himself down back in the game’s final stages.

The 22-year-old said the ability for a number of players to perform multiple roles and assist the team in whichever way possible was one of the “beautiful things” about the club’s current vein of form.

“We’ve got a lot of versatility in our side at the minute: all you have to do is look at a guy like Liam Jones,” Jaksch said.

“He’s spent the majority of his career as a forward, but here he is giving us some big performances in the ruck and now playing some great footy down back. 

“Having that string in my bow is going to be part of my development, and as a team we’ve got a lot of guys who can do that which we’re really enjoying.”

A key hallmark of Northern’s last month has been its pressure at the source: despite finishing with 80 more disposals yesterday, the Blues also had 30 more tackles than their opponents.

Jaksch said that was the overriding feature of how the club wanted to play, with this coming Saturday against the Zebras hopefully providing more of the same.

“We like to be defined by pressure and effort and the rest will take care of itself if we can bring that each week,” Jaksch said. 

“I think we’re showing each other and our fans that’s a consistent thing which we can bring throughout the year.”

Saturday's game at Preston begins from 2pm, with entry free for Northern Blues members.