North Melbourne faces one of football's toughest challenges on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Geelong to face the Cats at GMHBA Stadium.

The Roos, who came agonisingly close to knocking off Greater Western Sydney in Canberra, will be out to remain in the top six, while the Cats will be hungry to make amends for a disappointing Round 7.

Round 8, Geelong v North Melbourne
When: Saturday, May 2 at 4.35pm AEST
Where: GMHBA Stadium, Geelong, VIC
How to watch: Foxtel, Kayo Sports

The opposition

The Cats will hope to rebound against the Roos at their fortress after being upset by Port Adelaide 13.17 (95) to 10.5 (65) at Adelaide Oval last weekend.

Alarmingly for Chris Scott's side, they were outgunned all over the park and battered in the clearance count, finding themselves 18 down at the final siren.

But Geelong has had the wood over North Melbourne for the past decade, winning all 14 of the clubs’ meetings since 2015.

On the injury front, the Cats will be without their versatile veteran Mark Blicavs, who picked up a knee injury against the Power.

In the mix

Second-year Roo Matt Whitlock could be among the Kangaroos in selection consideration for the club’s trip to GMHBA Stadium.

The young key forward was again one of the Roos' better VFL performers against the GWS Giants last weekend, kicking two goals to take his season tally to six from four games.

Key defender Charlie Comben will be pushing to prove his fitness for the Geelong game after he was a late withdrawal from Sunday’s clash in Canberra due to illness.

Small forward Zac Banch will also be in the frame for a recall after another strong stint at reserves level.

What the coach has said

North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson on Thursday: "Part of it for us is ... how much have we improved? How much are we more competitive? How much are we more difficult to beat? 

"That game last week (against GWS) could've gone either way. We're taking encouragement that some of these benchmark sides of the competition that have been playing finals - we're competing much better with those sides now."

Running hot

After three weeks on the sidelines, Tristan Xerri came back with a bang against the Giants.

In trademark fashion, the star ruck laid a game-high 12 tackles to go with 25 disposals, 25 hitouts and 10 clearances.

The Roos will need him at his best again if they’re to set the tone at the contest on Saturday and take control of the midfield.

Geelong has extended its winning streak against North Melbourne, defeating the Kangaroos by 49 points thanks to a nine-goal final quarter at GMHBA Stadium.

The Roos trailed by 17 points at three-quarter time and looked to be right in the contest when Jack Darling floated home a major to kick-off the fourth term, but the Cats responded with the next five goals to put the result beyond doubt.

CATS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

Despite conceding the opening four goals of the Saturday twilight contest, Alastair Clarkson’s side showed plenty of resolve to fight back and then take the lead immediately after half-time through Colby McKercher.

But the Roos ran out of steam, with the home outfit gaining the ascendancy at the source and flicking the switch in the final quarter to outscore North Melbourne 56 to 24.

Despite excellent conditions, only 10 goals were scored in the first half, before the game opened up with 24 after the main break.

North Melbourne's Tristan Xerri was outstanding with 26 contested possessions - an AFL record for a ruck - and 14 clearances. 

Geelong's tagging specialist Oisin Mullin restricted North Melbourne star Harry Sheezel to 20 disposals, while Cats forward Shaun Mannagh kicked a game-high four goals. 

North Melbourne's Jy Simpkin tagged Bailey Smith and the Cats gun was kept to 26 disposals.

Larkey reaches milestone
Roos spearhead Nick Larkey entered the game sitting on 299 career goals, but the 300-goal milestone proved briefly elusive. An early set shot went begging, and another attempt drifted wide for no score, delaying the inevitable. He finally broke through early in the third term, clunking a strong mark in the goal square before calmly slotting the near-certainty to bring up his 300th. It was his only goal for the match in a quieter outing for the Roos skipper.

GEELONG                    4.3   5.6   12.7   21.9 (135)
NORTH MELBOURNE   3.2   5.5   98.8   13.8 (86)

GOALS
Geelong: Mannagh 4, Cameron 3, Neale 3, Holmes 2, Martin 2, Bowes, Dangerfield, Dempsey, Guthrie, Henry, Humphries, Worpel
North Melbourne: Darling 3, Duursma 3, McKercher 2, Simpkin 2, Curtis, Larkey, Sheezel

BEST
Geelong: Holmes, Mannagh, Bruhn, O'Sullivan, Cameron, Worpel
North Melbourne: Xerri, Comben, McKercher, Davies-Uniacke, Darling, Duursma

INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
North Melbourne: Nil

LATE CHANGES
Geelong: Jack Henry (foot soreness), replaced in the selected side by Jack Bowes
North Melbourne: George Wardlaw (illness), replaced in the selected side by Tom Blamires on Friday

Crowd: TBC at GMHBA Stadium