Collingwood have dismissed as irrelevant their 87-point thrashing of North Melbourne early in the season as they prepare for a re-run on Sunday.

The Magpies believe the Kangaroos bear little resemblance to their round two line-up which sunk quickly in the face of the premiers' onslaught.

Collingwood assistant coach Mark Neeld said the club barely gave a review of that game a passing glance as they prepared for tomorrow's replay at the MCG.

"What is really relevant is to look back over the last three or four games - that's as far as we go back in terms of looking at an opposition club we're playing," Neeld said.

"We had a quick look at our reviews about round two but moved on quickly. A fair bit's changed since round two.

"Certainly their form and their confidence (has improved). The Kangaroos, the past four weeks have been playing some really good footy," he said.

"They've been high in contested possessions, their clearance rate around the stoppages has been outstanding.

"Their ability to score from the stoppages and also their ability to reduce the opposition scoring has been a highlight of their past month."

He said one of the key improvements in the Kangaroos was their ability now to carry out coach Brad Scott's strategy.

"They have a strong game plan and you could describe them as being very disciplined over the past month with all their players sticking to that plan.

"They are playing the way their coaching group wants them to play."

All eyes will be on former soccer player Lachlan Keeffe who was recruited from Queensland, turned into an AFL player and has been honing his game as a tall defender in the VFL.

Keeffe will be Collingwood's third AFL debutant this season.

The 21-year-old is an athletic former elite junior soccer player who arrived at the club from Gympie as a non-registered rookie at the end of 2008.

He could find himself up against one of the most in-form forwards in the competition in North's Drew Petrie, a player Neeld said the Magpies must shut down at all costs.

"He's a target for a number of their inside 50 kicks," Neeld said.

"He's very strong one-on-one and he certainly doesn't die wondering with his ability to launch into packs and either grab the ball or bring it to the front for his little forwards.

"He's a definite potent force that they have who's in good form."

Neeld said the Magpies were satisfied with their form at this point of the year as they target back-to-back premierships, but the midfield coach said they would need to lift several notches with strong teams nipping at them.

"There's a lot of areas where we need to improve in if we're going to compete with the other top sides as we go towards the finals," he said.

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