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NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott has challenged his players to test themselves individually against Geelong's legion of premiership stars this Sunday.

Although Scott stressed he hated losing, he said this Sunday's game posed a more important test for each of his players than it did for the North team collectively.

"I prefer to look this week - sure, it's a measure of where we're at collectively - but I think individuals are really looking forward to getting out and pitting themselves against the best in the competition in their position," Scott said at Aegis Park on Thursday.

"We look across the ground and there are challenges for all of our individuals and that's the way that we'll be looking at it."

Scott was glowing in his praise for the Cats' ability to keep introducing quality young players into their team and, in particularly, the ability of senior players like skipper Joel Selwood and Jimmy Bartel to get their team up when they look down and out.

Although recognising most of his players did not have the "runs on the board" that the likes of Selwood, Bartel, Paul Chapman and Steve Johnson did, Scott said there were similarities between his team and the premiers.

In defence, he said young North defenders Aaron Mullett, Shaun Atley and Sam Wright were similarly placed in their careers to young Cats defenders Cameron Guthrie and Billie Smedts.

At the other end of the spectrum, Scott said there were parallels between North skipper Andrew Swallow, 24, and his Geelong counterpart Selwood, 23. Both were young captains and inside midfielders who put their heads over the ball, he said.

"I would like to think they'll get time on each other and I think Andrew's really looking forward to that opportunity," Scott said.

"He's got a lot of respect for Joel Selwood as everyone in the competition does."

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Another Cat who is fast becoming one of the competition's benchmarks is power forward Tom Hawkins. Scott said Hawkins' height (197cm), weight (102kg) and athleticism made him a "unique problem" for opposition teams, one that might cause North to look beyond in-form, but undersized, defenders Scott Thompson and Michael Firrito.

Fortunately, Scott said North had a range of options to choose with key-position players Nathan Grima and Robbie Tarrant set to return from injury this weekend - either in the VFL or AFL - and Lachlan Hansen having played in the VFL last weekend after recovering from a hamstring strain.

Scott said North had taken a particularly cautious approach with Grima's return from a knee injury sustained in round one of the NAB Cup on February 17.

"We made a mistake last year when we brought him back too early and it was detrimental to him and to us as a team, so we've been a lot more cautious this time," Scott said.

Scott said he had no concerns about playing the Cats after his team's 129-point rout of Greater Western Sydney last Sunday, with the GPS data from that game showing the Kangaroos' running patterns had been "fantastic".

Similarly, he said North was in no danger of taking the Cats lightly despite the finals-like intensity of their clash with Hawthorn on Monday and their subsequent six-day turnaround.

"They'll be under no illusions as to what they're going to come up against," Scott said.

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The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs