Geelong coach Chris Scott says his Cats are well prepared to test themselves against a Collingwood side he acknowledges are still the AFL's best.

Geelong will head into Friday night's MCG clash with the top-placed Magpies unbeaten after thrashing North Melbourne 19.13 (127) to 9.7 (61) at Skilled Stadium on Saturday.

It was a league-record 25th straight win in Geelong, the longest streak by any club at any venue.

First-year coach Scott said neither he nor his team took much notice of that record.

But they will take plenty from how they fare against Collingwood.

Their most recent meeting was Collingwood's 41-point win in a preliminary final last year.

"We know we've got an enormous challenge in front of us, it's the biggest challenge in footy," Scott said.

"I think that the whole football world accepts that everyone's behind Collingwood at the moment, but we're doing our best to get up to their level.

"... It's a chance for us to test what we're doing against what is clearly the best side in the competition."

With the Magpies in mind, the Cats took a risk-management approach with key players before and during the Kangaroos match.

Captain Cameron Ling was left out with a hamstring strain, but is likely to play against Collingwood, while forward Steve Johnson was a late withdrawal with shoulder soreness.

Scott said Johnson had been carrying the injury for some time, but with only six days between the North match and the Collingwood game, they wanted to ensure he was ready.

Similarly, ruckman Brad Ottens was subbed off because of soreness at halftime, with the Cats five goals clear.

"We'd like to think that we were proactive with him, so he'll be okay for next week," Scott said.

The Kangaroos were only six points down when star forward Drew Petrie kicked his third goal early in the second quarter.

But the Cats piled on five goals to one before halftime, and four more quick goals to open the second half, to build an unbridgeable nine-goal buffer.

The Kangaroos had aimed this season to improve their record against the competition's best sides after losing their six matches against last season's top four sides by an average of 67 points.

So far they are failing, with the big loss to the Cats following an 87-point trouncing by Collingwood in round two.

Coach Brad Scott said his side's effort was inconsistent and Geelong's greater depth of talent showed, but he felt the 'Roos were making progress.

"We are exposing our group to the best sides in the competition and really trying to improve our own game, so that in the longer term we can be a competitive side against the top four teams," he said.

"We're not that at the moment ... but I'm still really confident in the direction we're heading."

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