I've done the drive (for fun) a few times. The run up through the middle of the country is excellent. Wish the roads were like that everywhere. We went through Queensland a couple of years ago, and quite disliked the experience (overall feeling was 'leave your wallet, but piss off). Qld roads were the worst by a large margin.
The advice re driving at night is totally correct. But, extend it a little and don't drive in the first or last hour of daylight either. You'll see plenty of signs from the people who did. Not only are roos a problem, but we saw dead horses, camels, cattle and pigs.
Give the road trains some respect. I found they were extremely polite (totally unlike the east coast B double and semi drivers).
Last trip we stopped at Pt Augusta, Coober Pedy, Erldunda, Alice, Wycliffe Wells, Banka Banka, Daly Waters, Katherine, Victoria River and Kunanurra. Wycliffe is an easy (and somewhat amusing) way of avoiding Tennant Creek