Kevin Sheedy leads his Greater Western Sydney side into battle against North Melbourne on Sunday, marking the 15th anniversary of one of the more unusual crowd responses in AFL history.

Heading into Essendon's clash with North in round 14, 1998, Sheedy infamously labelled Kangaroos executives Greg Miller and Mark Dawson "marshmallows", a reference to their softness.

The Kangas had the last laugh that day, claiming a three-goal win, before the two sides would meet again in a qualifying final at the MCG.

In front of more than 71,000 fans, North Melbourne would again prevail, this time by 22 points, and the Roos fans came prepared.

As Sheedy walked the boundary line at the end of the game, down came a hailstorm of marshmallows.

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"(Former Essendon captain and assistant coach) Mark Thompson was a bit concerned about it, he said 'we'll get a lot of them thrown at us walking off the ground'," Sheedy recalls.

"I remember saying to him 'the crowds are getting soft in this game, it used to be rotten fruit when I started'.

"I was interviewed by a press guy and we just had to build up some crowds.

"So I said Greg Miller and Mark Dawson – the pink and the white marshmallow.

"It's all fun, Greg and 'Daws' were all good, we had a lot of fun with that."

Now in the final year of his long coaching career, Sheedy will be hoping to end an eight-game losing streak against the Roos that dates back to the 2001 season.

GWS is also seeking its first win of 2013, but Sheedy took some positives from a competitive showing against Geelong and then a strong final quarter against Port Adelaide prior to the bye.

"We've had a rest," he said.

"Five of our last eight quarters before the break were pretty good.

"We'll go OK this week."