Geelong moved alongside AFL pacesetters Sydney on 14 wins after overpowering North Melbourne by 32 points in Saturday night's clash at Etihad Stadium.
The Cats claimed their eighth win in 10 matches, beating North 16.15 (111) to 10.19 (79) in front of a crowd of 32,564 fans.
Finals hopefuls North now sit on a 10-8 record after a second consecutive defeat.
They couldn't counter the speed and creativity of Geelong's small forwards Allen Christensen (29 possessions and one goal) and Steven Motlop (21 and two).
Tom Hawkins and Mitch Duncan finished with three goals each while Joel Selwood, Mathew Stokes and Josh Caddy were also prominent for the Cats.
Lindsay Thomas kicked three goals for North and Levi Greenwood and ruckman Todd Goldstein were strong contributors.
The Cats chaired off triple-premiership player James Kelly after his 250th game.
North led by one point at quarter-time but were soon brought undone by a spectacular lack of discipline.
The Kangaroos conceded three free kicks behind the play in a five-minute period in the second term, all of which led to goals, as the Cats pounced to move 22 points clear at the 14-minute mark.
A frustrated Brent Harvey conceded two free kicks and Majak Daw was the other offender, pushing his forearm into Shane Kersten's face.
The Cats kicked six goals to North's one in the second quarter. Geelong held a 28-point advantage at halftime, 8.8 (56) to 3.10 (28).
North were determined to play a run-and-carry style in the third term and booted five goals to Geelong's three to narrow the gap to 16 points at three-quarter time.
The Cats were untroubled however in the final term, adding another five goals to North's two.
Geelong's coach Chris Scott said media reports which had claimed Geelong were out of the running for premiership contention were garbage.
"While we still feel our best footy is in front of us, today was definitely a step forward," Scott told his post-match media conference.
"I can't help but smile when you say people have written us off.
"I have heard it a lot and the more I hear it, the more it reinforces that it doesn't matter.
"There's a lot of garbage written and said about us."
North's coach Brad Scott said North lost control of the game in the second quarter.
But he suggested some of the free kicks paid against the Kangaroos were questionable.
"We had the 15 minutes of madness there," Brad said.
"But I found it really hard with the vision that I had in the box to identify whether players needed to be disciplined for it.
"We won't tip in to umpires. We'll leave that to the journalists and supporters."
The North coach said Geelong's speed on the counter-attack was deadly and skill errors were costly for his side.
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