Thompson said the Skilled Stadium battle between first and fourth was not the time to be flirting with form, and believes North – which has emerged as a challenger to the reigning premier after six wins no the trot – is a team underrated at your own peril.
“You know what you are going to get from them and if you’re not switched on when you play North Melbourne then they’ll take advantage of that,” he said on Friday.
Thompson believes the Roos have improved from last year, citing the emergence of Drew Petrie as an elite tall utility, and the marked improvement of youngsters Lindsay Thomas and Matt Campbell.
“They throw in a lot from the coaches box tactically as well,” Thompson added.
North Melbourne is one of only two teams to have beaten Geelong at Skilled Stadium in the last two seasons. Its 16-point victory in round five of last year was seemingly a catalyst for Geelong, with the Cats winning 38 of 40 games since, including last year’s Grand Final.
Geelong's form this year has been even more impressive. Since losing to Collingwood in round nine the Cats have won 11 straight by an average winning margin of 63 points, including a fighting 13-point win over the Roos at Telstra Dome in one of the games of the season.
“It’s been okay but you can always strive to be better,” Thompson said of the impressive form line.
“Every week we have things we want to work on and last week was no different to the week before. We didn’t do everything right last week.”
