Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson believes Sunday’s game will be won in the midfield, and is wary of North’s dangerous on-ball brigade.

Clarkson pointed to the Roos’ depth, and said his team would need to fire to get the job done.

“The one thing about North sides, whether it was under ‘Scotty’ (Brad Scott) or under ‘Shawry’ (Rhyce Shaw) … the middle part of the ground, Goldstein’s been in terrific form, and (Shaun) Higgins and I’m led to believe (Ben) Cunnington will play,” he said.

“Those three in particular, with the support of (Jack) Ziebell and others; they are a really strong outfit.

“(Aaron) Hall’s a damaging player and (Jared) Polec is so well, so their middle of the ground is really, really strong.

“That’s where most of the supply comes from, so if we can break even and better them in that space we give ourselves a great chance to win.

“If we can’t, our work’s going to be cut out. We’re going to be chasing some tail, so we need to be really strong in that part of the ground.”

Clarkson said he’d kept a keen eye on North’s form this season, as both sides look for their third win.

“They’ve (the Kangaroos) been really impressive. They’ve certainly won more games than they’ve lost under ‘Shawry’,” he added.

“’Shawry’s’ brought a lot of things around his philosophies from Collingwood and Sydney, and they’ve been really impressive over the time he’s been their coach.

“We’re expecting a really physical contest.”

The teams face off on 6.10pm on Sunday, at Marvel Stadium.