North’s focus will be on its own game, not trying to quell a dangerous Magpies’ side, midfielder Sam Gibson says.

The 26-year old has played a key role in the club’s recent form revival, and believes the Kangaroos' best chance to win will be sticking to the tactics that have made them so successful in the past two months.

“This time of the year they are all 8-point games I guess. Every game is really important and Collingwood have probably been the benchmark of the competition this year so it’s just another really big challenge for us.

“We are not focused too much on how they are going to play. We have confidence in our structures and our ability.”

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Gibson was still running around in the VFL when North Melbourne fell to an embarrassing 117-point loss when the teams last met, but says he and his team-mates have studied the tapes.

“We’ve addressed a few things that perhaps didn’t go right for us last year and we’ll try and rectify that and put in a good performance.

“We’ll make sure that we are playing the game-style that we want to play, and we’ll do our best to nullify them on the whole.”

Having played in eight wins in his first nine appearances in the royal blue and white, many have hailed Gibson as the club’s ‘good luck charm’, but he has other thoughts.

“I think I came in at a pretty fortunate time for the club and I’ve been lucky since then that as a whole and as a group we’ve been pretty consistent, and that’s because everyone’s been contributing on game day,” he added.

“We go into every game confident in our ability and confident in our game plan. Week to week we can look each other in the eye and know we are going to give a solid effort.”

It’s been a long journey for the number 43, who spent three years on the Hawthorn rookie list and captained Box Hill in the VFL before arriving at Aegis Park at the end of 2011.

“I haven’t really had time to let it process yet. I’m just very grateful that I’ve been given the opportunity to one be at the club, and two be in the side, so I’ll just be doing whatever I can to stay there.”

Gibson pays credit to coach Brad Scott for his success this season.

“He’s been great for me. Just showing confidence in me, and just letting me have the confidence to play the way I play. I think that’s a big thing because if you give young guys confidence the sky’s the limit.”