North Melbourne has been rocked by the loss of two of its best forwards for Friday night's clash against reigning premier Geelong at Telstra Dome.

And to make matters worse for the Kangaroos, who could slip from the top eight if they lose to a side that has lost just twice in its past 30 matches, the Cats will be boosted by the return of two of its best forwards.

The loss of Nathan Thompson (knee) and Corey Jones (ankle) even overshadowed the fact the struggling and injury decimated West Coast Eagles were forced to make seven changes for Saturday night's home game against Sydney.

Thompson and Jones between them have led North's goalkicking in the past three years and their absence will rob the Roos of much potency against a defence that has conceded the second least amount of points this season.

The Cats could even afford to drop promising defender Harry Taylor and young key forward Tom Hawkins, who has kicked just four goals in his past six matches, to make way for the return of star duo Cameron Mooney and Paul Chapman from injury.

Chapman has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury while Mooney missed last week's win over Carlton with a shoulder injury.

The Eagles' problems meanwhile just continue to mount with Brad Ebert (ankle), Will Schofield (thigh), Josh Kennedy (knee) and Matt Rosa (ankle) joining the suspended Beau Waters on the sidelines for the home clash against Sydney.

West Coast also dropped promising forward Ben McKinley and Steven Armstrong with Adam Hunter, Jaymie Graham, Chris Masten, Mark Seaby, Ryan Davis, Mark Nicoski and Sam Butler - for his first game since the 2006 grand final following groin problems - returning to the side.

Sydney promoted Ed Barlow for Craig Bird.

Collingwood named Anthony Rocca (ankle) for Monday's Queen's Birthday clash against Melbourne while the Demons dropped Daniel Bell and Simon Buckley in addition to losing star forward Russell Robertson for the rest of the season with an achilles injury.

But in a rare piece of good news for the bottom-placed Demons, injury-plagued key defender Jared Rivers was named on a preliminary seven man bench following a hip injury which has kept him out since round seven.

The 2004 AFL Rising Star winner also managed just three games last season due to osteitis pubis.

Richmond named veteran Greg Tivendale for only his second game of the season for Saturday's home game against Adelaide with Graham