Despite being one of the in-form side’s in the competition, North Melbourne won’t be taking 16th placed Melbourne lightly according to defender Scott Thompson.

“Although they’ve only won twice, they’ve beaten Essendon which was a really good win and they’ve been really competitive in most games,” Thompson told kangaroos.com.au.

“I think if we don’t bring our contested ball game, which they’re pretty good at, we will be in for a rude awakening so we have to be right on our game to win.”

Now in the eight, Thompson says the Roos could easily fall down the ladder and miss some September action if they don’t stay focused.

“We’ve obviously had a good six weeks but we can’t look ahead too far and if we drop just one game, we still might not make finals so we definitely have to put everything into this week and make sure we’re doing everything right to the win.”

The backman has no doubts the 22 that run out onto Etihad Stadium on Saturday will be out to make a statement.

“You just have to trust all your team-mates to be on the right page in as far as not taking any opposition lightly, but it’s also making sure no one is taking any liberties at training and ensuring all the boys are putting in one hundred per cent effort. That’s how we’ve improved so far this year, on the training track.”

Thompson was also quick to highlight the amount of talent at Melbourne’s disposal.

“We’ve seen them really turn it on throughout a number of quarters this year and if they put four quarters together, they’re going to be a good team so we have to make sure we stop what they’re good at doing and really outplay them.

“They’ve got some talented players and some forwards that haven’t played much but have some great potential. You always get a bit nervous coming up against a young forward who’s looking to stand up and show what he’s made of.”

Like the Kangaroos, the Demons are one of the youngest and most inexperienced sides in the league, but Thompson acknowledges they have several players capable of dominating.

“Guys like Colin Sylvia, Nathan Jones and Jack Trengove are hard contested ball players that can win it in the middle, then you have a veteran in Brad Green who knows how to kick a bag in the forward line so there is a lot to be concerned about from our point of view.

“They’ll be throwing everything at us and chucking their bodies into the contest and if we don’t match that, we’ll be in for a long day.”