Wales have lost eight in a row against Australia but we have to win on Saturday

PUBLISHED: 17:24 EST, 29 November 2013 | UPDATED: 20:51 EST, 29 November 2013

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I'm a competitive person who hates losing and we’ve lost eight in a row against Australia.

So enough is enough — we have to win on Saturday. So many of those defeats have been really close — by an average of three or four points — which has been really frustrating.

We’ve had so many chances to beat them but we’ve lost in the last few minutes. That breaks me. When you come so close... you think you’ve got it then there’s an error or a loss of concentration and it’s gone.

Up for it: George North is full focused on ending Wales' miserable run against Australia at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday

Perfect preparation: North stretches with his team-mates during Wales' training session on Friday

The second Test in Australia last summer (2012), when we lost to a penalty right at the end, was really hard to take. That was in Melbourne. It was so annoying to have gone all that way and done enough to take it to 1-1 in a three-Test series, then lose it on a last-minute kick.

We’ve had more success this autumn compared with recent years, so we are on a high going into this last game. We came close against South Africa and we had more to give. Australia are coming to our turf and we have to show them we’re a team capable of competing with the top three.

People keep asking if beating Australia with the Lions will help Wales today and I think it will. There were 11 Welshmen in the team that won the last Test in Sydney, so that has to help, even though not all 11 are playing in this game.

What that experience means is that we all know they are not unbeatable. The Lions tour was great for me and now we have to...not forget it, but try to put it to the side. This is a new game, a new squad. If I can’t motivate myself for this game, playing for Wales against Australia in Cardiff, I shouldn’t be here.

Happy memories: North thinks success against Australia for the British and Irish Lions will help his country on Saturday

I’m looking forward to playing against Israel Folau again, after our great encounters during that Lions series. He is a great athlete who has taken a lot of skills that he has learned in other sports and brought them into rugby union.

He played really well against the Lions, now he has kicked on and had a massive tour. After success in rugby league and Aussie Rules, now he’s doing well in union. It’s annoying but he’s just one of those all-round great athletes. I bet he’s brilliant at golf and table tennis too!

Everyone wants to know if I’ll throw him over my shoulder again, after I did that in Melbourne with the Lions. When I started to pick him up I thought ‘this is not ideal’, but I just had to keep going. It definitely wasn’t planned.

I’m not going to make a habit of picking people up and carrying them around! It’s not just Folau we have to worry about. If Will Genia and Quade Cooper are on song then that could be trouble for us. They have a few dangerous individuals.

Up you go: North lifts Australia's Israel Folau during the Lions tour in June, but insists he won't be doing the same again

Northampton have been very supportive in releasing me for all Wales matches and training, and I hope they aren’t punished for letting me take part in this game. Saints risk a fine from Premiership Rugby by allowing me to play because the Test falls out of the IRB’s international window.

It’s difficult for me when there’s a problem like this and my name is in the middle of it. It’s now between the club and Premiership Rugby, so I’m not really involved in it — it’s all happening behind closed doors. I’m sure I’ll hear more about it on Monday morning. I don’t want the club to be fined but there’s nothing I can do about it now.

On the run: North breaks clear of a challenge from Tonga's Latiume Fosita during the host's 17-7 win last weekend

This is everything to me; playing for Wales is one of the greatest things in my life and Northampton have always said that they would never affect my Welsh career. They are willing to help me and I like to think I can help them, not just by playing but by working with the academy players to help them make the step up. It’s a two-way thing.

I’ll be in my usual place for Wales today — on the wing. There’s been talk of me playing at centre, but that can wait. I had a chat with Mark Taylor, who played on the wing and in the centre for Wales.

He said: ‘You’ve got plenty of time left in your career’, and we were having a joke about it, saying that I would move into the centre when I’m a bit fatter and slower. At the moment, I’m happy on the wing. I don’t need to move just yet.