The fortunes of North Melbourne and West Coast since the bye could not be more different, as both sides head into Round 17’s Monday night clash with totally different levels of confidence.

Following a win, a draw and two promising losses since its bye, North looks like a team high on confidence and growing in self-belief, with the likes of Cam Zurhaar and Ben Cunnington leading the team’s upturn in form.

Since their bye in Round 14 though, the Eagles have been on the receiving end of two difficult defeats, first losing to the Western Bulldogs by 55 points, before travelling to Sydney to lose by 92, kicking just 26 points for the game.

With the Roos travelling to Perth to take on a West Coast side looking to cling to its spot in the top eight, Todd Goldstein says a massive challenge looms.

“We’re expecting a fierce contest, we’ve been under the pump the way they are at the moment and the only way to get out of it is to come out fighting, so that’s what we’re expecting,” Goldstein told RSN.

“The crowd is looking like it could be close to 100 per cent capacity, so that’s a pretty intimidating place for some of these young kids.

“I don’t think it’s any easier a prospect than [playing] a team that’s absolutely flying. Hopefully it can be a good contest and hopefully we’re up for a fight.”

A key part of that fight will be the impending ruck battle between Goldstein and fellow former All-Australian Nic Naitanui.

With both players ranked inside the top five players in the AFL for total hitouts in 2021, the duel between the two in form rucks could be a defining feature of the clash.

Goldstein says Naitanui’s athleticism offers a different prospect than most other rucks in the AFL, a challenge he’s looking forward to facing.

“He’s such an explosive player and he’s hard to stop all the time, so it’s about nullifying his influence where he’s good and then trying to impact the game where I can,” he said..

“I don’t mind going back and watching times when players have done well against him and times when he’s probably got on top, just to get an idea of what to avoid doing.

“It’s also understanding with the skillset Nick’s got he’s going to get a good leap, he’s going to get some really clean hitouts. 

“I can’t lose faith in what I’m trying to do and the impact I’m trying to have just because he gets a few clear ones.”

The improvement of this North side over the course of the season has been staggering, and while experienced players coming back from injury has helped, there is more at play than meets the eye.

The time taken to bed into the new approach and game plan by the new coaching staff has been and gone, with players beginning to fully understand their roles.

Goldstein says the rapid development of the side since the bye is down to the hard work of all the playing and coaching staff.

“For us as a group it’s really taken the first half of the year to really get comfortable with what your role and expectation is in the team,” he said.

“Credit to the coaches who’ve done a mountain of work trying to upskill every single player. From the most senior player to the youngest player, we’ve all got a lot to learn.

“Probably all aspects of our game have improved significantly through the understanding of the game plan … offensively it’s having an effect, our scoring has gone up, but our defence as well, we’re stopping teams scoring as freely as they were.”