Hale produced the best game of his career against the usually ruthless Cats at the same venue in round 21 last year – kicking eight goals in his side's 33-point loss.
All-Australian defender Matthew Scarlett and teammate Harry Taylor looked powerless when the ball was sent towards Hale with the big man kicking three goals by quarter time.
But the glaring side-note was the importance of early touch, which has proved Hale's greatest frustration with nine goals from seven games to open this season.
Four of them came against Essendon in round four.
"It's just something you've got to battle through and it's only going to take one quarter where you stick a few early and kick some goals and the confidence gets up," he said.
"Confidence is pretty fickle. It's just a matter of getting that timing right. When I start clunking a few it's going to build confidence. Hopefully it's just around the corner."
Through a productive pre-season, Hale planned to sustain the form that earned him the title of North's leading goalkicker and fourth place in its best and fairest award.
Assistant coach Darren Bewick said at the time that Hale was ready to have an impact on the competition because he was starting to realise what he was capable of.
"I've just struggled a little bit with the basics," Hale said. "My marking is usually my strong point but it's been a little bit down and it's something I've been working on.
"It has been frustrating coming off the year I had last year. The touch isn't quite there.
"I'm getting in the right sort of spots but I'm just dropping a few that I'd normally take. There's not really a remedy."
The 24-year-old said he hadn't been affected by the make-up of the side, with fellow forward Aaron Edwards and ruckman Hamish McIntosh settling into their positions.
McIntosh missed seven games with a knee injury last year and his return to form has pushed vice-captain Drew Petrie primarily to centre half-forward.
Edwards missed the bulk of 2008 with a broken leg and it was in his absence that Hale flourished.
"It's not really the structure, it's more personal confidence," Hale said. "It's taken a while for me to get going and get that one-grab stuff that I had going at the end of last year.
"You can only keep working at it in training and it correlates into a game where you take a few early and you get going again.
"With Azza coming back now, he's pretty much a lead-up player. Drewy's playing different roles as well around the ground and it often changes week to week."
Hale said North had nothing to lose this week and didn't expect any extra attention from Geelong defenders despite kicking 12 goals in his last two games against them.
