North Melbourne boasts wins in seven of its past eight contests with Richmond, but Ben Brown says that record will count for little when they meet at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

"It's a massive game for us and I think a massive game for Richmond, too. It's going to be a good one to watch," he told the media on Friday afternoon.

“We've been building reasonably well over the last few weeks, but we know what Richmond's capable of.

"They had a couple of really close losses the last couple of weeks, so if they'd won those games they'd be right up the top of the ladder … it will be a difficult one."

Brown has shouldered added responsibility this season with Jarrad Waite's injury and suspension-related absences, but the form of Kayne Turner, Taylor Garner, Mason Wood and Nathan Hrovat has excited him.

The Alex Rance-led Tiger backline will present a stiff test to North's forward group.

"I'll prepare for every eventuality (of who I will play on) and if that's Alex Rance or (David) Astbury, it doesn't matter for me," Brown said.

"Richmond has a very solid backline and we know it's going to be tough going, so we have to be really switched on from the first bounce.

"The good thing about us is it doesn't really matter who fires – it's a team effort. We're really excited about the forward line we've got together this year."

Brown believes the side is building well, with four wins from its last five matches.

"We had a couple of losses earlier in the year where we shot ourselves in the foot and needed to learn a few lessons and I think we did that.

"We've built some pretty good form, but there are definitely some areas we need to improve … we're a pretty young side this year and we're going to have to learn lessons at particular points."