The Swans are likely to regain rebounding defender Tadhg Kennelly for another testing assignment against North Melbourne at Telstra Dome on Sunday, but ruckman Peter Everitt is only a slim chance of playing despite making a successful return from a knee injury in the Sydney reserves yesterday.

Kennelly was a late withdrawal from the match against Geelong on Saturday after suffering hamstring soreness at training on Thursday. "If it was Tuesday he probably would have played, but we didn't want to take any chances," said coach Paul Roos.

Everitt played about 40 minutes of the reserves game and, according to the Swans' general manager of football, Andrew Ireland, came through well. His recovery will be monitored to see if he requires more time in the seconds.

North Melbourne and Sydney now have a 3-2 win-loss record and appear to be vying for the positions just below the impressive pacesetters Geelong and Hawthorn. But the serially underrated Kangaroos have been buoyed by their dramatic victory over Collingwood on Saturday night.

After coming from 21 points down in the last quarter to overcome the disappointing Magpies, the Kangaroos' major concern is the reporting of defender Daniel Pratt after a heavy clash with Collingwood ruckman Josh Fraser.

Inevitably, the absence of suspended forward Barry Hall was the major focus of the Swans' 42-point loss to Geelong on Saturday. While Roos said turnovers and poor goal-kicking early in the match cost his team the most, Hall's presence was badly missed. No more so than in the early going when the Swans struggled to find a reliable target, and in the last quarter when Adam Goodes could not take some chances when isolated near goal.

With Nick Davis quiet on his return after a three-week demotion, Michael O'Loughlin blanketed by the brilliant Matthew Scarlett, and Ryan O'Keefe missing some early shots, the Swans could not capitalise on some hard slog by their midfield. That attack will need to lift against North Melbourne, even with the Kangaroos missing injured defender Josh Gibson.

The Swans' performance, however, didn't lack the type of hard work they will need against the relentless North Melbourne.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson talked as if the Swans had put a Vulcan mind-lock on his team, drawing them into a defensive mindset when the Cats were used to dictating terms with their fast, direct, high-possession football. "At some stage, Sydney were able to get hold off us and choke us," Thompson said.

If that sounded like a back-handed reference to the Swans' sometimes pythonesque style, it should instead be taken as a compliment to the application and tenacity that saw them overcome some early goal-kicking yips and claw back from a five-goal quarter-time deficit to trail by just three points early in the last quarter.

However, the final stages of the match, when Gary Ablett jnr sparked an eight-goal avalanche, were a reminder not merely of the gap between Geelong and Sydney, but between the premiers and the rest of the competition. "Our mind was locked in this sort of real contest and we just burst out of it," Thompson said.

While disappointed that the scoreboard did not reflect his team's hard work, Roos was honest in his assessment of the two teams. "I don't think it was a representation of the game, but it shows what a good side they are. I guess when you've got five or six kids and they've got 22 hardened players - that's a factor."

The learning curve was sharpest for Kieren Jack, who spent his seventh game chasing the brilliant Ablett and Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel. After a lively start, debutant Nick Smith also found the going tough against the Cats' battalion of elite midfielders.

It was a footballing masterclass for the younger members of a team which, while still able compete with the best, are also a work in progress. The Cats, meanwhile, are very happy to live in the moment.