North Melbourne is ready to take on the 'behemoth'.
That is how Kangaroos' coach Dean Laidley described the all-conquering Cats on Thursday as his in-form side prepares to take on a Geelong team that has won 38 of its past 40 matches - an AFL record - on its home turf on Sunday.
Included in that streak was an incredible 106-point massacre of the Kangaroos in last year's qualifying final although Laidley's team got significantly closer earlier this season when they lost by just 13 points at Telstra Dome in Round 11.
And the Kangaroos - who go into Sunday's clash with six successive wins behind them - famously beat the Cats on their last visit to Skilled Stadium in Round 5 last year - the loss which stung the Cats into action with the club's current winning streak beginning the following week with a 157-point win over Richmond.
But unlike Geelong, whose top-placed finish at season's end has been guaranteed for weeks, the Kangaroos have it all to play for over the last two rounds knowing they need to win both games to guarantee a top-four finish and the double chance in the finals.
"They are a wonderful, wonderful side and it will be a tough ask but we will go down there and give it our best shot," Laidley said of this weekend's trip to Geelong.
"But we will concentrate on what we are trying to achieve and do it that way rather than looking at the behemoth (Geelong)."
Laidley said the fact his side is one of the few in the competition to have enjoyed some success at Geelong in recent times gave him a measure of confidence ahead of Sunday's daunting task.
"We are in pretty good - we have been much more consistent in the back half of the year and we want to keep that going obviously," he said.
"But we are going down to a hostile environment but while we have had some good wins down there in the last few years, we have also come off a couple of hidings (against Geelong) so we need to make sure we are at our best."
Laidley, whose team guaranteed its 12th finals berth in the past 16 seasons by beating Carlton last week, said the chance to finish in the top four for the second successive season is a great incentive for the rest of the season - even though it would mean another first-up finals showdown against the Cats.
"Once you have won enough games to get there (the finals) you want to finish as high as you can and that is our aim and whether it works out or not, who knows, but we will give it our best shot," he said.