Mid-season draft recruit Kallan Dawson will play his first game for the North Melbourne Kangaroos this weekend, with the key defender named in the VFL side to take on the Northern Bullants.

Dawson, a 196cm key defender, was drafted to the Kangaroos while sidelined with an ankle problem, but he has been declared fit to play on Sunday.

Fellow AFL-listed defender Atu Bosenavulagi has also been named in the side.

VFL-listed Louis Cunningham will return to the field for the first time since Round 1. The classy midfield/defensive option has been missing from the side since suffering a concussion in the Round 1 victory over Williamstown.

Max Mitchell-Russell and Zach Monkhorst come in to support the ruck and key forward positions, and Will Doquile also comes into the side.

Tarryn Thomas and Jackson Archer exit due to call-ups to the seniors, while Hamish Murphy, Jacob Edwards, Youseph Dib and Michael Stingel also miss.

Breaking the drought

North Melbourne started the 2022 VFL season in strong form, defeating Williamstown in Round 1 before knocking off a strong Footscray side on Good Friday.

Since then it's been anything but smooth sailing for the Kangaroos. They're now 19th on the ladder with two wins and eight losses for the season.

The Round 12 clash with GWS represented a marked uptick in quality from North. Despite falling to heavy Giants pressure in the fourth term to eventually lose the game, there's a strong argument to say the Roos should have been up at three-quarter time. It was a much improved showing from recent weeks.

This weekend's opposition is the 20th-placed Northern Bullants. With one win and 10 losses for the season they sit above bottom-placed Williamstown on percentage alone.

This is a must-win clash for both teams. Neither side has performed to the best of its ability so far this season, but both have shown flashes of quality across the season.

Whichever side puts together the most complete game of football should come away with a much-needed win.

By the bye

Due to the nature of this year's VFL competition each team has three byes over the course of the campaign. North Melbourne's first bye came in Round 3, and its second came last week in Round 13. 

The Kangaroos registered a brilliant win after the bye last time around, defeating the Western Bulldogs by just six points at Arden Street courtesy of a late Charlie Comben goal.

While the chief destroyers on the day in Comben (injured) and Paul Curtis (AFL team) won't be taking part in this week's clash, there are a number of players both AFL and VFL-listed who can step up against the Bullants.

The Round 3 bye came at a fortuitous time for the Kangaroos to allow them to reset and come out swinging in Round 4. Can North repeat the effort and grab the win once again?

>> The game will be streamed live on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live Official App

Sunday, June 26

North Melbourne v Northern Bullants at Arden Street Oval, 2.05pm AEST

B: 41. M McGuinness, 31. J Goater, 53. M Hore
HB: 15. A Bosenavulagi, 42. K Dawson, 60. L Cunningham
C: 46. D Tyson, 37. C Smith, 49. H Jones
HF: 1. J Mahony, 47. M Walker, 40. E Ford
F: 54. K Answerth, 66. Z Monkhorst, 36. P Spicer
R: 21. C Coleman-Jones, 33. P Walker, 35. C Lazzaro

INT: 50. H Dick, 58. B Stevens, 61. M Mitchell-Russell, 64. W Doquile, J Watkins

23rd player: 64. W Doquile
Emg: 48. H Murphy, 25. S Collins, 55. C Hinkley, 79. T Howard

Ins: 15. A Bosenavulagi, 42. K Dawson, 60. L Cunningham, 61 M Mitchell-Russell, 64. W Doquile, 66. Z Monkhorst
Outs: 26. T Thomas, 32. J Edwards, 34. J Archer, 55. C Hinkley 56. Y Dib, 58. H Murphy, 62. M Stingel, 60. S Collins

The North Melbourne Kangaroos have got themselves back on the winners list in the VFL this weekend, soundly beating the Northern Bullants by 42 points on a wet and muddy day at Arden Street.

The home side began the day as they ended it by kicking an early pair of goals through Eddie Ford and Phoenix Spicer. After hitting the scoreboard first they would never rescind their lead to a Bullants side that flattered to deceive throughout the day.

Some wayward goalkicking in the third term left the Bullants in with a sniff heading into the final stanza, but an early goal to Spicer, his second of the day, took the wind out of the opposition's sails.

North Melbourne had lost eight consecutive games in the lead-up to playing the 20th-placed Bullants, and senior coach Leigh Adams says the scoreline is a result of a full team performance.

"The boys can see the system is in place and it works when we get everyone playing their role. Our forward pressure was really good and our contested possession was really good, and that allows your backline to have the confidence to attack the ball in the air," Adams told North Media.

"We started well in the first quarter and our first half was really good. Our shape behind the footy in the first half was great and it allowed us to control the game. We fell away a bit in the second half but there were still glimpses of the way we want to play.

"I'm really happy with the win, and I'm really happy with how we played in the first half in particular."

The game offered fans their first look at mid-season recruit Kallan Dawson. After only playing three quarters on his return from an ankle injury he's in line for a full match load next week.

Dawson, alongside fellow AFL-listed defender Josh Goater, were two of the star performers in the back half of the ground, with Goater in particular impressing with his power and athleticism.

"In the first half today 'Goat' (Goater) really looked like an AFL player. His build in the last month or so has been really good and it's a credit to him and 'Browny' (head of development Gavin Brown) that he's in such a good space," Adams said.

"He's so athletic. Once he defends his man he can read the ball really well and beat him with pure athleticism. Hopefully he can start playing with a bit more confidence after playing really well today.

"With Kal, he played his role really well. He looked assured with the ball in hand and defended nicely. It'll be good to get a full game into him next week.

"He looks like he's got VFL footy under control so hopefully he can get his body right and start knocking on the door soon."

It was a complete performance in the forward half of the ground for the Kangaroos, with no fewer than nine players finishing the game with at least one goal to their name.

Mat Walker was the pick of the bunch with three majors, and had he kicked more accurately he could have come away with a monster bag.

Jack Mahony and Spicer kicked two goals apiece, but Adams says the most impressive part of their games was the pressure they put on the Bullants' defence.

KANGAROOS v BULLANTS Full match coverage and stats

"'Mahns' and Phoenix were both fantastic today. Our whole forward line was fantastic. The pressure they managed to put on the defence was sensational," he said.

"Forward pressure like that gives your mids and defenders more confidence that they can focus more on their man because they know there's going to be pressure on the ball.

"It's something we've been really inconsistent with but today I reckon we got four quarters of that forward pressure which helps enormously.

"There were a few blokes who kicked some goals, but it was a really even and selfless performance from the forwards today."

Callum Coleman-Jones was an immense presence in the middle of the ground and finished with 21 disposals and 11 clearances, while Charlie Lazzaro continued his strong run of form with 24 touches and a goal.

The Kangaroos will be hoping to take some momentum from the victory into next week's clash with Werribee.

NORTH MELBOURNE         5.2     9.3     11.9     13.12     (90)
NORTHERN BULLANTS     0.3     2.8     5.9     6.12     (48)

AFL-listed:

Atu Bosenavulagi: 11 disposals, three marks
Callum Coleman-Jones: 25 disposals, 11 clearances, 26 hitouts, one goal
Kallan Dawson: 13 disposals, four marks, two tackles
Eddie Ford: 9 disposals, one goal, two tackles
Josh Goater: 18 disposals, six marks, three tackles
Charlie Lazzaro: 24 disposals, five tackles, two clearances, one goal
Jack Mahony: 21 disposals, eight tackles, two goals
Matt McGuinness: 20 disposals, eight marks
Phoenix Spicer: 15 disposals, two goals, six tackles
Pat Walker: 16 disposals, five marks

Best of VFL-listed:

Marty Hore: 22 disposals, five marks
Harry Jones: 34 disposals, one goal, four tackles, four clearances
Dom Tyson: 22 disposals, one goal, four marks, three tackles
Mat Walker: 12 disposals, three goals 
Jack Watkins: 27 disposals, three tackles