North Melbourne’s week of tough talk will count for nothing when their players meet Port Adelaide in Saturday’s AFL clash, Power coach Matthew Primus says.

North coach Brad Scott has been scathing of his players’ effort in their three-goal loss to the lowly Western Bulldogs last weekend.

But Primus has warned Scott to expect Port to follow the Bulldogs’ winning blueprint in the AAMI Stadium fixture.

“Their coach has certainly been saying a lot of things in the press,” Primus told reporters on Friday.

“But it’s how your players come out and want to play.”

Primus said Port, seeking to end a six-game losing streak, would topple North if Power players repeated the pressure the Bulldogs put on the Kangaroos.

“We know exactly how they’re going to play,” Primus said of North.

“Their form in the first four games of the year was pretty good.

“They were disappointing last week but I thought the Bulldogs brought pressure to them – and if we can replicate that, I’m sure we will get the same result as the Bulldogs did.

“A key is putting a fair bit of pressure on them.”

Primus made five changes to Port’s side, with only one forced by injury.

Those dumped included midfielder David Rodan, who was omitted for the second time this season despite being highly regarded by rival clubs.

Rodan collected 18, 16 and 17 disposals since being recalled in round five – but Primus said that wasn’t enough.

“We’re excited by what David can do but he has got to keep continuing to work on what he’s struggling to do,” Primus said.

“And we’re struggling to find a lot of onballers who find a lot of the ball, and David hasn’t been able to do that.

“We’re just not generating enough of the ball.

“Our top possession winners are 25 or 23 possessions and there’s one or two midfielders getting that – not three or four of them.

“We need three or four of them standing up and, if we do that, we will get a result.”

AAP sl/ajw/