Brisbane coach Chris Fagan is expecting nothing less than North Melbourne’s best when the teams face off on Saturday afternoon. 

While the Lions will go in as clear favourites, given their recent form, Fagan said the Roos demanded respect.

“North always put their best foot forward when they play the Brisbane Lions,” he said on Friday.

“They play a really strong, contested brand and we’ve got every expectation that they’re going to bounce back from last week.

“They’ve had three really good wins against really good sides, like the Giants and St Kilda, and they beat Adelaide the other week … they’ve had four or five games where they’ve lost by 14 points or less, so they are a highly competitive team.

“Even with their injuries, they can hold their heads up high with some of the games they’ve played this year.” 

Outside of its two losses to Brisbane in 2019, North boasts a strong head-to-head record, having won the previous six games between the teams. 

“It wasn’t until last year that we were able to get on top of them – it was a long time between drinks playing against North,” Fagan said.

“Even in the two games last year they were really close contests; I think it was a 20-point victory down in Melbourne, but scores were level at three-quarter time, and it was a similar margin here (Queensland) last year.

“We always plan for the opposition to turn up with their best performance, so that’s no different this week.”

The Lions have cleared Charlie Cameron to play, despite hyper-extending his knee in the win over the Bulldogs, but another exciting forward will have to bide his time.

“Cam Rayner won’t play, no … he’ll have another week off.”

Rayner is out with a hamstring injury.

Final teams will be announced at 6.20pm on Friday night.