St Kilda coach Scott Watters is demanding aggressive defence from his side in Sunday’s AFL clash with handball-happy North Melbourne.

The match at Etihad Stadium looms as a classic eight-point contest with both sides on 6-6 win-loss records and battling to stay in finals contention.

North had failed to build on the promise shown in their round-three win over defending premiers Geelong, but regained some ground by claiming their second major scalp of the season when they upset Adelaide by 32 points at Etihad Stadium last week.

Brad Scott’s Kangaroos not only beat the Crows at their own game in the contested ball but they also had more uncontested possessions and simply ran the Crows off their feet.

“In their better games, they’ve almost free-wheeled,” Watters told the afl.com.au website.

“I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but they’ve been very aggressive with their ball movement and they’ve been allowed to play that way.

“They like to play quick and high-possession football so, if you are not on your game defensively, that can be really hard to counter.

“You are going to have to be aggressive defensively.”

Richmond, Western Bulldogs and the Kangaroos are the three highest-handballing teams in the league after 13 rounds.

Three North players — Michael Firrito, Ryan Bastinac and Leigh Adams — had 25 handballs or more in the club’s win over Greater Western Sydney in round two.

Last week’s bye has certainly come at a good time for the Saints after skipper Nick Riewoldt played out the match despite a calf complaint in his side’s round-12 loss to Adelaide.

The Saints hold a four-game winning streak against the Kangaroos, who haven’t beaten St Kilda since 2009.

Small forward Matt Campbell has won a recall at North Melbourne at the expense of midfielder Ben Cunnington, while the Saints have gone for a taller forward line with ruck/forward Rhys Stanley replacing Terry Milera.

St Kilda’s wingman/halfback Brendon Goddard is averaging more than 30 disposals in his past five clashes with the Kangaroos.

Ben McEvoy takes on North’s in-form ruckman Todd Goldstein in a crucial midfield battle.

Key defender Sam Fisher also faces a crucial assignment on Kangaroos’ centre-half forward Robbie Tarrant who played a break-out game last week with four goals.

North’s dominant midfielder last week, Daniel Wells, could face a tough day opposed to Saints’ tagger Clint Jones, while North will need to counter St Kilda’s army of onball stars led by Lenny Hayes, Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo.