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THE MEDIA would love for North Melbourne captain Adam Simpson to say his side can beat Geelong on Sunday, but he won't go there.

Behind the reigning premier, North is the competition's in-form outfit – positing six wins on the trot and holding fourth place on the ladder with just two home and away matches to come.

Should the Roos stay fourth, a qualifying final against Geelong beckons and this weekend's game will give some indication of both teams' capabilities ahead of September.

While Simpson acknowledged that his teammates and coach Dean Laidley have reason to be confident, no-one will be getting carried away.

"Every team, except for Collingwood, has struggled [against Geelong] this year and I think they've won 24 or 25 games out of 26," he said. "We've been in good form, we're proud about how we've gone about it and Dean's coaching really well at the moment and we're following instructions.

"We've had a really good two months of footy but we're playing against a team that is pretty much undefeated for the last 18 months.

"To say we're going to go down and beat them is a pretty big ask, but we'll have a crack."

North Melbourne defeated Geelong at Skilled Stadium in round five last year and the Roos' recent run has won them the unofficial title of the Cats' biggest threat, which Simpson is well aware of.

"Everyone's looking for someone to bob up and challenge Geelong," he said. "I hope it's us, but to be honest they're probably a cut above most teams at the moment.

"Hawthorn and the Bulldogs have probably [had] a different agenda the last couple of weeks and you can understand that. They'll no doubt pick it up before the finals.

"We'd like to think we're in the mix with those two. We've beaten them (the Hawks and Bulldogs) this year, so the difference this year is that we've probably beaten different teams above us as well as below us.

"They're not unbeatable, don't get me wrong. We're going to go down with plenty of confidence. The team's up at the moment, so I'm not going to come here and say we're going to lose, but I'm not going to come here and say we're going to go out there and smash them and take home the points."

Simpson indicated that ruckman Hamish McIntosh was a chance to play his first senior match since round 12 after starring for VFL affiliate Werribee on the weekend, while Nathan Thompson, Aaron Edwards and Andrew Swallow are also available or close to it.