West Coach coach Adam Simpson may exchange a little friendly banter with Drew Petrie ahead of the North forward's impending milestone this week.

Petrie, 33, will equal club greats Simpson and Wayne Schimmelbusch in third position on the Roos' all-time games list when he makes his 306th appearance in Friday night's blockbuster against Hawthorn.

Petrie said he would not be surprised if he heard from his former teammate in the lead-up.

"Knowing what 'Simmo' is like, he likes a bit of cheeky banter and he might send a text in regards to me equalling the amount of games that he played," Petrie told NMFC.com.au with a laugh.

"But I won't hold my breath ... I think he lost my number since he became a coach but that's OK."

Although the unassuming Petrie adds another accolade to his list of achievements, he was not fazed by the milestone and had his sights firmly on the Hawks.

"Such is the focus on the job each week and the opposition that we play against that you don't think about those individual milestones at all," he said.

"Those two players are champions and legends of this footy club, but I'm not looking at the chart of players and noticing the fact that I'm equal third now on games played at North Melbourne after the weekend."

Petrie can overtake another Roos great, Glenn Archer (311 games), in outright second in round 20 should he play the next seven consecutive games.

On the field, the 197cm goalkicker has increased his output over the past fortnight and hoped that trend would continue in the second half of the season.

He added there was no cause for concern despite fellow talls Ben Brown and Jarrad Waite having had less impact on the scoreboard in recent weeks.

"Over the last fortnight, I've played a little bit more consistent footy but we've still missed a lot of opportunities individually and as a forward line," Petrie said.

"But the formula has been working for more of the season than not, so we don't need to change anything dramatically overnight."

North faces a race against the clock this week with five players – Andrew Swallow (concussion), Ben Cunnington (corked quad), Nick Dal Santo (adductor), Shaun Atley (ankle) and Robbie Nahas (finger) – all under an injury cloud and a six-day break to prepare.

The Hawks, meanwhile, are expected to regain the likes of ball-winner Sam Mitchell (back), defender Taylor Duryea (hip) and ruckman Jon Ceglar (suspension) for the clash.

Petrie said the Roos would have a few plans in place to cover any injuries and named midfielder Trent Dumont as a more than suitable replacement if required.

"Dumont is unlucky to not be in the side at the moment because his form suggests that he deserves to be, but weight of numbers means that he hasn't been able to play because other guys have been ahead of him," Petrie said.

"There are a few guys that would've liked seven or eight days' (rest) between last week's game and this week's game, but we've had to bring in guys all year so that's not an issue."