Saturday will see the Roos and Hawks, who met in three grand finals in four years during the 1970s, renew acquaintances after a heated round-three clash that was won by Hawthorn.
North Melbourne ended Hawthorn's 2007 campaign with a stirring victory in the first semi-final and a lot of enmity from that match has been sustained.
"It's funny because the AFL put us in the rivalry round and a few years ago we were wondering what our rivalry was," Pratt said.
"You look back to the '70s and that, but modern day there wasn't much to it. But of recent times there's definitely a rivalry starting to form.
"Sometimes you lose a bit of that sort of stuff in the game and it's good that footy's getting it back again."
Round three saw Hawthorn midfielder Jordan Lewis suspended for striking Pratt, while Hawk defender Campbell Brown took a post-match swipe – branding the Roos' hard man "soft".
However, Pratt doesn't think Brown's jibe will give his side any extra motivation.
"The boys go about their own business," he said. "I can look after myself. Campbell said those things and I guess we play similar sort of footy.
"I don't know if that's reflecting on his footy as well."
He also distanced his teammates from the tag, with no reason why North would be considered soft by Hawthorn or any other club.
"I don't think they think we're soft," he said. "Around the competition, I think we're probably one of the sides that put our bodies on the line.
"Probably the last couple of weeks we've gone away from that [but] you lose respect very quickly in football and this week we'll be looking to get that stuff back."
Three Hawks were suspended in the wake of last year's semi-final, with Shane Crawford, Luke Hodge and Lewis starting their new seasons on the sidelines.
Pratt, while recognising priority for the ball over the man, expects Saturday's match to carry some extra niggle.
"I don't think people take their eyes off the football," he said. "Maybe sometimes people think about what's going to happen next before it actually does. I haven't noticed that when we played against them previously.
"The last time we played them there was spice ... and [I can't see] why it's going to be any different. I expect blokes to be running around, bumping and shoving.
"[But] it's the safest place in the world, the footy ground. You can't do anything or else you miss weeks."
