A heavyweight Western Bulldogs midfield awaits North Melbourne in the club's last game before the mid-season bye.

After a string of improved performances including narrow losses to Sydney and Essendon, the Kangaroos faded in the second half against Greater Western Sydney in Round 13.

They will be bolstered by reinforcements as they look to hit back at Marvel Stadium on Sunday against Luke Beveridge's men.

The opposition

The Bulldogs head to Docklands hunting their first win in four games, having let slip a fourth-quarter lead in a back-and-forth tussle against Port Adelaide last Friday night.

But while Luke Beveridge's men sit eighth on the AFL ladder with a 7-6 record, they boast a star-studded midfield capable of overpowering any team on their day.

Marcus Bontempelli leads the league for clearances this season and Jack Macrae ranks 12th for total disposals.

Tom Liberatore was the Dogs' best against the Power with 33 disposals and 11 clearances, while Adam Treloar shrugged off hamstring concerns to rack up 35 disposals and eight clearances.

Running hot

Four goals against the Giants last weekend made it 11 in three games for Nick Larkey, who has regained the form he showcased in the Roos' promising start to the season.

The Kangaroos spearhead kicked 10 goals in the side's opening two wins, but entered a lean patch afterwards, kicking six goals from the next five rounds. 

"He's in good form but he's worked extremely hard," interim senior coach Brett Ratten said after last Sunday's game, which earned Larkey three coaches' votes and saw him climb to fourth in the race for this year's Coleman Medal.

"Early in the year he wasn't quite going [at his best] but he's got his mojo back and he's playing great footy." 

What the coaches have said

North Melbourne interim senior coach Brett Ratten post-game v Greater Western Sydney: "There's some pleasing parts to our game but we didn't do it long enough. [The game got away from us] around the contest. They got out of our tackles more than we got out of theirs and we couldn't get the ball back off them when we had the chance. Next week we have Jy (Simpkin) coming back and Hughy Greenwood."

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge post-game v Port Adelaide: "Over the last few weeks, we've been challenged by three pretty good teams and we've worn it. It just means that we're below the upper rung at the moment and we've got to keep pursuing trying to get up there. You can improve in this game in a very short space of time and I believe in our guys and I believe we can find those increments. We've got to focus on the Kangaroos and see what we can do."

Last time we met

North Melbourne 11.5 (71) def by Western Bulldogs 21.13 (139) at Marvel Stadium

An eight-goal first term by the Bulldogs ended the contest early in last season's Good Friday SuperClash.

The Kangaroos staged a revival after quarter time, kicking five unanswered goals via Tristan Xerri, Jack Ziebell, Eddie Ford and two from Curtis Taylor, but it was not enough, and the Bulldogs kicked away to a 68-point win.

Bulldog star Bailey Smith had 43 touches in a best-afield performance for the winners, while athletic tall Aaron Naughton kicked five goals.

Gun midfield pair Jy Simpkin (27 disposals, eight clearances) and Luke Davies-Uniacke (22 disposals, four clearances) were the Kangaroos' best.