Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron says the Giants need to be wary of “the hardest side in the competition” on Saturday.
After an opening round loss to Adelaide, GWS bounced back in emphatic fashion against the Suns last week, winning by 102 points.
But Cameron believes taking on North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena will be a huge task for his players.
“We understand the Kangaroos are probably the hardest side in the competition at the moment in terms of contested ball and pressure,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
“It was an outstanding A-grade game against the Cats last Sunday. I think everyone would walk away and say that’s a quality game. You could say they [the Kangaroos] were a bit stiff to lose that game.
“We know what’s coming on Saturday. They regularly turn up, they regularly compete and if we don’t, we’ll lose the game.”
Cameron hinted key-defender Aidan Corr could return from a hand injury, as the Giants look to stop the Roos’ tall forwards.
“Ben Brown’s an outstanding contested mark, we know he’s a great focal point,” he said.
“Majak Daw, [Todd] Goldstein will no doubt come back into the team, [Braydon] Preuss was outstanding in the ruck last week; they might play three talls, they might play two.
“What we’ve got to make sure is we get the flexibility to deal with whatever’s in front of us, whether that’s two talls, whether that’s three talls. They’ve got some outstanding ground level players in their front half.”
The Giants could welcome back Jonathon Patton for Saturday’s clash.
The key-forward was a late withdrawal in the opening round due to a hip injury.
“He trained really, really well. That was our main session and there’s no doubt he’s going to put up his hand,” Cameron added.
“He was just a little bit off on Saturday when he woke up, so we didn’t take that risk. Everything’s progressed in terms of playing this weekend, but hopefully he can pull out well tomorrow from a really tough session.”