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West Coast forward Josh Kennedy has bounced back to form with a bang, booting seven goals to inspire his team to victory over North Melbourne at Optus Stadium.

West Coast forward Josh Kennedy has crashed through the 600-goal barrier with seven majors in the Eagles' 49-point AFL win over North Melbourne.

Kennedy booted five first-half goals to help inspire his team to the 18.13 (121) to 10.12 (72) win on Saturday in front of 54,376 fans at Optus Stadium.

The 31-year-old had been on the receiving end of retirement calls in recent weeks after a rare form slump that included two goalless games.

But the two-time Coleman medallist showed he still had plenty more to give, with his strong marking and accurate goalkicking proving crucial in the victory.

Kennedy started the day on 594 career goals, and he received a standing ovation when he nailed his 600th major early in the third quarter by bouncing off two opponents and snapping truly.

North Melbourne had no answers to the 237-game veteran, with the absence of key defender Scott Thompson (ruptured testicle) proving costly.

Robbie Tarrant and Sam Durdin couldn't contain Kennedy, who finished with 7.0 and five contested marks in a best afield display.

"Did you write him off a couple of weeks ago? Not you? Someone did," Simpson said when asked about Kennedy after the match.

"That (criticism) is white noise to everyone inside the club.

"If I get a little chance to give you guys a clip for it, that's great, but it's bigger than that. He has been a sensational player for a long period of time and one day he's going to retire. Not today.

"It's great for him (to kick seven goals), but I don't think it is any different to the past few weeks when he has contributed to our wins."

West Coast (13-5) jump over Brisbane into second spot, with the Eagles 0.3 percentage points above the Lions.

North Melbourne's slim finals hopes are over, but rumours are rife caretaker coach Rhyce Shaw has won the race for the full-time job.

Shaw, who has led the Kangaroos to four wins from eight games, is reportedly set to sign a two-year deal, with an option for a third.

North Melbourne suffered a late injury blow when Shaun Atley appeared to dislocate his right knee in a clash of legs with Jack Darling in the final term.

Shaw was disappointed by his team's lack of pressure at times, and conceded it was hard to stop Kennedy and Darling.

"Both Josh and Jack were on fire and they're pretty hard to stop," Shaw said.

"We needed to support a bit more. Losing a quality player (like Thompson) always hurts.

"Scotty has been playing some pretty good footy this year but it was a good opportunity for Sam Durdin to step up.

"I thought even though there were periods there where the big fellas got on top, Sam fought pretty hard during the day. He'll learn a lot from that."