NORTH Melbourne kept the flicker in their AFL finalshopes, while Greater Western Sydney took a step closer to an unwanted piece ofhistory at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The Giants' 86-point loss to the rampant Kangaroos wastheir 13th in a row this season, and they continue to close in on being thefirst team in AFL/VFL history since Fitzroy in 1964 to go through a seasonwinless. 

Drew Petrie booted five goals for the Kangaroos,Lindsay Thomas kicked four and Brent Harvey three as well as 24 possessions astheir side dominated to win 19.16 (130) to 6.8 (44).

However, the win was soured by an incident involvingstar forward Thomas, who appeared to headbutt a Giants player early in thefinal term. 

North Melbourne will face a nervous wait during MatchReview Panel proceedings tomorrow with a big clash against Richmond looming onSaturday.

A forgettable match was over as a contest by the endof the first quarter - the Kangaroos piling on eight goals to one to set up thevictory. 

GWS moved into damage limitation mode in the secondterm by putting players behind the ball - a tactic which worked to a degree asthe sides booted four goals apiece in the quarter.

But the Kangaroos had the better of a dire secondhalf, restricting the Giants to just one goal. 

North coach Brad Scott admitted he was pleased withhow his team had coped with the Giants' unusual defensive tactics.

"The main thing we take away from that is theopposition threw something pretty strange at us, and we were able to respondreally quickly," Scott said. 

"I called for an organised effort from our boys,and after half-time we really got that."

Critical to the Giants breaking their duck this seasonappears to be next Saturday's clash with fellow strugglers the Western Bulldogsin Canberra. 

Sheedy admitted he had not considered the prospect ofthe team going through their sophomore season without a win.

But he admitted the importance of the Bulldogs gamehad been a topic of post-match conversation. 

"It's an opportunity for us to try and search forour first win, and I've been speaking about that to the players," Sheedysaid.

"I haven't thought about that (the prospect of awinless season) to be honest. 

"The task you take on when you try to build thisclub from the real, deep foundation ... is you suffer some losses early likethe Brisbane Bears did and the Swans did."

The Bulldogs lost to fellow battlers Melbourne thisweekend, and have won just three of their 13 matches this campaign. 

North moves to a 5-8 win-loss record, continuing tokeep alive their faint chances of making this season's finals.

The Giants lost leading goalkicker Jeremy Cameron toillness before bouncedown, with Sheedy confident he will return to playthe Bulldogs.

NORTH MELBOURNE                         8.3    12.6  15.10  19.16   (130)

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY        1.3     5.3     6.6      6.8        (44)

GOALS

O'hAilpin 2, Corr, Sumner, Hoskin-Elliott, Reid