When Nick Larkey emerged from Brad Scott’s office on Thursday afternoon, he did so as North’s soon to be ninth debutant for season 2017 - the highest of any team in the league this year.

Remarkably, the club hasn’t unleashed this many Shinboners since 2001 when ten players made their AFL debuts, and 14 their first appearances for North, including the likes of Drew Petrie, Daniel Harris and Corey Jones.

Along with Nathan Hrovat and Marley Williams’ arrival from the Bulldogs and Collingwood respectively, North will boast a remarkable 11 club debutants this season when Larkey takes the field - its highest figure since 2006.

The Roos fielded six players with less than ten games’ experience on the weekend against Port - the most of any AFL team.

North had nine players with less than 50 games in the side, while the average age of the team was over two years younger than that of the Elimination Final side in 2016.