Geelong veteran James Kelly is expecting an aggressive Kangaroos’ outfit when the sides come together at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. With North looking to rebound from a shock loss to Carlton a fortnight ago, Kelly says the Cats know exactly what to expect.

"I read Jack Ziebell's comments…he was saying they're going to come out and attack and play with that flair that they're really good at," Kelly said.

"I'd expect nothing less from them. They're a really good side and when they do focus on something during the week, they tend to do it pretty well from what I've seen."

While the Roos have a lot to prove, Kelly, who plays his 250th game, says Geelong still has its doubters despite sitting in fourth position and on equal points (but behind on percentage) with Sydney, Hawthorn and Fremantle.

The 30-year-old admits much of the criticism has come because the Cats have been playing patchy football.

"We're probably tinkering with it (the game-plan) a little bit still," Kelly said.

"When something like that happens, you try to find if there's any one thing. But the reality is, there probably isn't.

"You try to fix up a lot of different things and that does take time, but we're pretty confident over the next four to five weeks we can have a real run at the finals and get some momentum."

The sides last met in Round 10 at Simmonds Stadium with Geelong taking the four points in convincing fashion.

"If we produce what we know we can, we're around the mark but if we play the way we have and have second-half fade outs it's going to be pretty tough for us," Kelly said.

"I watched the Hawthorn and Sydney game (in round 18). Those two teams went at it for four quarters and it was a really good game to watch.

"We have to be able to bring that over a long period of time and that's what wins finals."

North will need to win if it wants to maintain a buffer over Essendon, Adelaide, Collingwood and Gold Coast at the base of the top eight.