THE IMPENDING departure of four North Melbourne veterans will have no impact on Greater Western Sydney in Saturday's clash at Etihad Stadium.

The Kangaroos announced on Wednesday that games record holder Brent Harvey, 300-gamers Drew Petrie and Nick Dal Santo, and defender Michael Firrito would not be offered contracts to play on next year.

While the news surprised many – especially in Harvey's case – and saw the club hit by a wave of criticism from fans, Giants defender Joel Patfull said the emotion surrounding the situation doesn't impact the way his side will approach their last game of the season.

"From our point of view we just focus on ourselves like we do every week," he said.

"Obviously there'll be a bit of extra feeling and the crowd will probably get involved when those players are around the footy, but we've got to do what we've got to do and move on.

"This time of year it's a big game for both teams, we're all getting ready for finals, so I think it's going to be a tough game either way."

Patfull is unlikely to find himself standing Dal Santo or Firrito this week, but as one of the Giants' key defenders, along with co-captain Phil Davis and Adam Tomlinson, he could be asked to cover Petrie.

The dual Brisbane Lions club champion, who has the versatility to play on a variety of opponents, has also prepared himself for a job on Harvey, and said the Kangaroos champion's work rate is his biggest asset.

"He gets involved up the field and obviously he's really dangerous coming back as well," Patfull said.

"He's smart with the way he runs and when he gets the ball around the 50 or inside 50 he's really dangerous.

"I've spent a bit of time on him (in the past), and he's obviously a tough opponent so I'll have my hands full if I do spend some minutes on him for sure."

North Melbourne has named a strong line-up with the returning Shaun Higgins adding plenty to their forward set-up along with Harvey, and Lindsay Thomas at ground level.

Petrie, Ben Brown and Majak Daw, will also give the Giants plenty to think about in the air, but with the GWS backline in fantastic form and settled; Patfull believes the visitors can handle whatever the Kangaroos bring.

"We have a good mix of players down there so we can rotate through a few different match-ups," he said.

"If someone gets caught on a certain player we're not too fussed about that.

"We can all play on talls or smalls, and whatever look they give us, we feel pretty comfortable that we can match them and go from there."