North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has ruled out the prospect of a return bout between his fullback Scott Thompson and Western Bulldogs hard man Barry Hall.

Sunday's clash at Etihad Stadium will be the first between the two sides since the round nine game when Hall was fined for putting Thompson in a headlock - but escaped suspension - after being repeatedly provoked by the North defender.

Brad Scott said Thompson had since modified his tactics and he was confident there would be no more problems in a match the Kangaroos must win to keep their finals hopes alive.

"We had a pretty long conversation about the way (Thompson) wanted to approach his footy and the way he wanted to be perceived and the way we as a club wanted to be perceived," Scott said on Thursday.

"Since then his footy has been terrific - he's been a model defender for us, he's competed really well defensively and he's giving us a lot of drive offensively.

"There's no need to speak to him specifically other than as I do every week, about his role for the side.

"There'll be nothing in relation to the Bulldogs or Barry Hall as such."

Scott said the issue was now in the past and would not affect the tone of the game.

"I tend to think you can bring all these things up and you can try and create a bit of bad blood but in my experience that lasts probably the first five minutes of the game and then you get on and play," he said.

"So if we're going to rely on just a little bit of emotion and bad blood to improve our performance then we're clutching at straws.

"We've really got to focus on what we've got to do.

"The Bulldogs are a genuine top-four contender, they're an outstanding side.

"Their midfield run, the quality of players they have on every line - they're in a really good position to push hard for a top-four spot in September."

Scott said North needed to move on from its loss to Essendon last weekend if it wanted to progress to the finals.

"What we produced on Saturday night was pretty disappointing by the high standards that the players have set for themselves.

"We've still got a fair bit of work left to do before we prove ourselves worthy of competing in September," he said.

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