Sydney assistant coach Stuart Dew believes quelling the influence of North’s rucks will be a big aim for his team as it looks to keep its perfect record intact.

Todd Goldstein and Hamish McIntosh combined perfectly last weekend, with Goldstein excelling with his tap-work and McIntosh terrific around the ground and up forward.

“Both of those players could be a number one ruck player at any other club, so we’ve got to be wary of both players whether they are in the ruck or up forward,” Dew said.

The returning McIntosh pulled down eight marks and booted two goals against the Cats and has had added another dimension to the North team, despite lingering doubts about the effectiveness of playing two ruckman.

“Even when McIntosh is on the ball he’s really dangerous, and did pretty well against us in our NAB Cup clash. North Melbourne have a lot of flexibility in that department, so we need to make sure we can match them.”

The likes of Daniel Wells, Brent Harvey and Ryan Bastinac will also be firmly in the minds of the Swans’ coaches and players come game day.

“Obviously they’ve got some players who can win a lot of the ball, but also their midfielders have been kicking goals which is one thing we will need to keep in check this weekend,” Dew added.

“North’s midfield is actually quite similar to ours in that they’ve got some really talented young players coming through.”

Recent history is in Sydney’s favour with the Kangaroos having been winless at the SCG since 2004, but there won’t be any complacency from an outfit missing arguably its most important player in Adam Goodes.

“We’re predicting it’s going to be a pretty hard and tough battle, and we know that if we’re not willing to compete then the Kangaroos will make us pay, whether it’s by the number of possessions or goals scored.”

North announced three inclusions to its squad on Thursday, with Levi Greenwood, Cruize Garlett and Robbie Tarrant all under consideration for a call-up to the 22.