Even Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse felt sorry for North Melbourne as the Magpies steamrolled the Kangaroos by a record margin to make a well-deserved surge to the top of the AFL ladder.

The reigning premiers overcame wet, windy conditions to pound North 22.15 (147) to 3.12 (30) at the MCG on Sunday, climbing above Geelong, with a game in hand.

The 117-point win was Collingwood's biggest this season and their biggest ever against North, meaning the Magpies will enter Saturday's blockbuster against Carlton at the MCG in top form.

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott labelled his team's performance as "disgraceful" and unacceptable, saying North were systematically taken apart by a side he rates the AFL's best.

Midfield stars Dane Swan (38 touches, two goals), Scott Pendlebury (29 touches) and Dale Thomas (26 touches, three goals) excelled, while youngster Steele Sidebottom celebrated his 50th AFL game with four goals.

But while Malthouse found nothing to fault, he admitted to feeling uncomfortable handing his former assistant Scott the greatest thrashing the second-year Kangaroos coach has experienced.

"You feel desperately, I know I do, for Brad Scott," Malthouse said.

"For a coach, sometimes, these things happen. I've been on the receiving end of these in my career, and there's not a lot you can do.

"... You can't flirt with form and our goal was to be effective every quarter.

"By the same token, the result, I'm not 100 per cent sure they're the things I really enjoy."

Malthouse said the bonus was giving AFL experience to first-game forward Lachlan Keeffe, second-gamer Luke Rounds, who quelled 'Roos captain Brent Harvey, and third-gamer Alex Fasolo.

Fasolo was a third-quarter substitute for Thomas, who went off as a precaution after an earlier knock to the knee, but was still close to Collingwood's best.

North fought hard in the opening term, when they tackled strongly, won their share of the ball and went forward almost as often as the Magpies.

But while Collingwood used the ball precisely, North botched their early chances and after trailing by 16 points at the first change, their confidence and competitiveness evaporated, outscored 18 goals to two over the final three terms.

"The end result looks massive and looks disgraceful, but in reality it's just contest by contest, quarter by quarter, they just systematically took us apart," Scott said.

The Kangaroos coach said rather than thrashing his side in any one facet, the Magpies were simply slightly better at almost everything, which would make the loss a useful learning tool.

"I can see the progression, I can see the path we're on, but those losses are horrendous and it's not acceptable," Scott said.

He added he would learn plenty about how his players from how they rebound against the Western Bulldogs next Sunday.

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