NORTH Melbourne has moved back inside the top eight with a commanding 53-point victory over fellow finals hopefuls Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

Drew Petrie kicked an equal career-high seven goals as the Kangaroos ran out 24.5 (149) to 14.12 (96) winners in front of 46,423 fans.

In a further sour note for Carlton, captain Chris Judd was reported for misconduct for a 'chicken wing' hold on North's Leigh Adams during the second quarter.

Adams' shoulder appeared to pop out in the incident, and he spent 14 minutes off the field before returning.

Adams would later leave the field in the final quarter after another clash in the middle of the ground, and finished the match with an ice pack on his right shoulder.

North midfielder Jack Ziebell may also be looked at for a high bump on Aaron Joseph, which rendered the Blue unable to take the field in the second half.

That left Carlton with only two men on the bench after it lost forward Andrew Walker to a calf injury minutes after the opening bounce.

Petrie kicked four of his goals in the first quarter as the Kangaroos jumped to a 15-point quarter-time lead.

They held the Blues at arm's length for the next quarter-and-a-half before slamming on six unanswered goals between the 12- and 25-minute marks of the third term to blow the margin out to an unassailable 55 points.

Petrie spent the last five minutes of the third quarter receiving treatment to his groin from North's trainers before being subbed from the game.

He played down the problem post-match.

"I just got a bit of crampiness, sort of tightness, through my adductor, and the coach didn't want to risk it," Petrie said.

"I was happy to go out and try for five minutes to see how I'd go."

Lachlan Hansen booted four goals and Kieran Harper and Lindsay Thomas three as the Kangaroos kicked an incredible 16 goals straight from set shots.

Thomas' second major, during the third quarter, was a goal of the year contender from the intersection of the boundary and the 50-metre line under heavy pressure.

Daniel Wells had 26 disposals and kicked a brilliant roving snap goal in an outstanding play-making performance.

Andrew Swallow, Nathan Grima and Ziebell were other prominent contributors.

Swallow received an accidental kick to the face from teammate Harper in the dying stages and jogged groggily from the field.

With Walker out of the game early, Carlton struggled for a forward target.

Judd was arguably the best player on the ground, booting a team-high three goals and picking up 36 disposals.

Mitch Robinson also battled hard.

The Kangaroos are now in eighth place with eight wins, but will only remain there at the end of round 16 if Gold Coast beats Richmond and the Brisbane Lions knock off St Kilda.

Coach Brad Scott said his team was starting to show what it was capable of.

"Our players now have enough evidence to know that our best is pretty good, but it's important that they remember why they were able to play that way," he said.

"There are still a lot of things we've got to work on, but I think the signs for the future are really good."

Carlton coach Brett Ratten said lamented his team's poor skill level and below par defensive performance.

"They just scored too easily," he said.

"That was the most disappointing thing about tonight, that 'save a goal' mentality in comparison to last week - there was a fair differential."

The crowd was the biggest for a North Melbourne match so far in 2012, in its only Friday night fixture of the season.

Zach Tuohy was a last-minute withdrawal from the Carlton line-up after injuring his back in the warm-up. He was replaced by Kane Lucas.

NORTH MELBOURNE    6.1    12.2    19.4    24.5 (149)
CARLTON                          3.4     6.9     9.9     14.12 (96)
 
GOALS
North Melbourne: Petrie 7, Hansen 4, Thomas 3, Harper 3, Adams, Atley, Bastinac, Harvey, Swallow, Tarrant, Wells
Carlton: Judd 3, Armfield 2, Betts 2, Carrazzo, Duigan, Murphy, Robinson, Yarran, Garlett, McLean
 
BEST
North Melbourne: Petrie, Wells, Thomas, Swallow, Grima, Ziebell, Hansen
Carlton: Judd, Robinson, Murphy, Armfield, McLean
 
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Drew Petrie (left adductor), Leigh Adams (right shoulder), Andrew Swallow (head)
Carlton: Zac Tuohy (back) replaced in selected side by Kane Lucas, Andrew Walker (right calf), Aaron Joseph (head)
 
SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Matt Campbell replaced Drew Petrie at three-quarter-time
Carlton: Kane Lucas replaced Andrew Walker in the first quarter
 
Reports: Chris Judd (Carlton) reported by umpire Foster for misconduct on Leigh Adams in the second quarter
 
Umpires: Schmitt, Meredith, Pannell
 
Official crowd: 46,423 at Etihad Stadium

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.