North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says stopping Chris Judd might not be possible, but focussing too much on the Carlton skipper holds its own dangers.

Scott believes the Kangaroos' capacity to counter what he rates as the AFL's best midfield, holds the key to his side claiming what would be their biggest scalp so far this season.

The Etihad Stadium clash is the `Roos' only Friday night game for the year.

And while they have been thrashed in their only previous meetings with top-four opposition - twice by Collingwood and once by Geelong - Scott said they were excited by the challenge and the big stage.

"It's a great opportunity. We're going to get a really good test in all of the areas we've worked really hard on," he said on Thursday.

"Our midfielders have really improved and as a group, I think we're improving.

"We're coming up against the best midfield in the competition.

"The names say that and the numbers and the statistics support that, so it's going to be a great challenge for us."

Scott said the Kangaroos would spend hours plotting how to handle Judd, whose clear favouritism to win a third Brownlow Medal this season was enhanced by his stellar performance against Essendon last round.

But he admitted that did not mean they would find a way to blanket the Blues skipper, who became a father for the first time on Tuesday.

"We were hoping that his baby might come a bit later and that might be one way of countering him," Scott said.

"We're just going to have to rely on a team effort in there.

"We'll certainly put a lot of time into him, but there's no foolproof method for stopping him.

"We saw how damaging he was last week and he's a Brownlow favourite again.

"But we're also conscious that Marc Murphy's leading the coaches' votes award this year, so he's someone we can't let off the leash either.

"When you throw (Kade) Simpson and (Heath) Scotland and (Mitch) Robinson and all those guys in the mix, we're not just going to be focussed on one player."

While one area the Kangaroos might be able to exploit is a depleted Carlton defence, Scott said that would not count for much unless they could win enough ball to give their forwards a chance.

"Because more than anyone else in the competition, they get the ball going their way," he said of the Blues.

Carlton have included experienced pair Ryan Houlihan and Brock McLean, at the expense of Wayde Twomey and Ed Curnow.

The Kangaroos sought to bolster their midfield, recalling youngster Ben Cunnington, in place of forward Ben Warren.

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