The premiership midfielder's sentiments aren't unique. Solid: Lachie Hansen is proving a handy intercept player in North's defence. Credit:Getty Images The footy community's thoughts are reflected by betting agency Ladbrokes who have the Kangaroos priced at $4.75 (as of Tuesday morning) to defeat the Eagles. And let's be honest, North Melbourne deserve to be rank underdogs. They finished the home-and-away season in eighth position and are facing the premiership favourites on their home ground, coming off a week's rest and, by the time Saturday night rolls around, not having left Perth for four weeks.

Not to mention that they poleaxed the previous premiership favourites, Hawthorn, in the first week of the finals and will almost certainly be bolstered by the inclusions of reigning Brownlow medallist Matt Priddis and Chris Masten. So the Kangaroos have a huge task ahead of them to deny West Coast a sixth grand final appearance in little under 30 years. But is it an impossible task? No. Strange things can happen at this time of year. Who could forget the granddaddy of them all when Carlton famously knocked off unbackable favourites Essendon by one point in 1999?

It's not as if North's recent record against West Coast is shabby, either. The last time they met, the Kangas triumphed by 10 points in Hobart in round 10 and the last time both sides played each other at Domain Stadium, Brad Scott's men were too good again – winning by 38 points last year. Crucially, in round 10, North's star ruckman Todd Goldstein towelled up West Coast counterpart Nic Naitanui in a performance that included 47 hit-outs, 10 disposals, six tackles and a goal. Goldstein will be critical to the Kangaroos' hopes of scoring a shock win. If he can get on top of Naitanui and deny the first-class supply that the likes of Luke Shuey, Andrew Gaff, Priddis and Masten have enjoyed all season, then the Roos will be half a shot.

The Eagles are a much quicker team than North Melbourne and on the vast expanses of Domain Stadium, that factor has the potential to decide the result comfortably in the hosts' favour. The Kangaroos will have to rely on their effective contested game which proved decisive in their first two finals against Richmond and Sydney. Their contested-ball winning beasts Ben Cunnington, Andrew Swallow and Jack Ziebell will have to bring their A-games - and then some. If North can hold sway in the middle, then their three-pronged key forward set-up, consisting of Jarrad Waite, Drew Petrie and Ben Brown, has to exploit West Coast's undersized defence and hit the scoreboard hard. There are a lot of ifs in there and West Coast's manic pressure, star-studded midfield and forward line will be very hard to overcome.