North Melbourne’s VFL program was back in action on the weekend for the first time in 2022, losing to Geelong by five points in its maiden practice match this pre-season.

Paul Curtis impressed in his first full game of senior football, after showing strong signs of development in the second half of the AFL practice match against Melbourne.

Kicking two goals and two behinds in windy, greasy conditions, VFL senior coach Leigh Adams says Curtis’ development this pre-season has been pleasing.

“Paul is a really clever player who gets involved and knows how to get into space and lose his man. He was very good for us forward of the ball and probably could have kicked four or five,” Adams said.

“He looks really, really good. It’s just about him getting a bit of consistency throughout the four quarters rather than giving glimpses here and there.

“That consistency will come with more games under his belt as he continues to build that match fitness.”

A trio of AFL-listed Kangaroos played off the half-back line against the Cats, with Atu Bosenavulagi, Jackson Archer and Miller Bergman all looking to press their claims for a senior call-up.

Bosenavulagi was the pick of the bunch in his first game back from injury.

“Atu had a couple of weeks off due to a bit of soreness. It was really good for him to get a run under his belt and put his hand up for selection,” Adams said.

“He used the ball really well and his ball-use was certainly his major weapon. His run and carry was dangerous, and he took some really good intercept marks and won some key one-on-one battles.

“It was a really strong all-around performance. He had a really good day out.”

Selected with the 38th pick in the 2021 NAB AFL Draft, Miller Bergman’s footballing intelligence was on full display against Geelong according to Adams.

“Miller is a really smart player who knows where to position himself to win one-on-ones and to guard dangerous space,” Adams said.

“He linked up with his teammates really well, and he was another one who used the ball pretty effectively when he had the opportunity."

Archer, who featured for North’s VFL side as a NAB League player last season, returned to the team to play his first game since suffering concussion a few weeks ago.

“‘Jacko’ was good as well. He didn’t quite work himself into the game as well as Miller or Atu, but he still did some really good things,” Adams said.

“He did a couple of typical ‘Jacko’ things and won a few good one on ones. His ball-use out of the back half was also pretty good.”

Jacob Edwards and Charlie Comben rekindled their forward partnership at VFL level, with both talls impressing in different aspects of the game.

Edwards split his time between the ruck and forward positions, while Comben played as a genuine key forward for the bulk of the contest.

“Jacob had about a 50-50 split between ruck and forward, he probably played a little bit more in the ruck,” Adams said.

"He’s improving every week and his centre bounce stuff was really good and he jumped really well. He did some really good things when he was in the contest but he just needs to continue to give himself more opportunities to compete.

“Charlie kicked a couple and was really good in patches, but he was just a little bit in and out of the game a little bit.

"When he launches at the footy he’s nearly unstoppable. He probably wasn’t as consistent as he’d have liked with his contested work in the air, but he was still really dangerous for us.”

After a strong showing against the Demons for the senior side two weeks ago, Patrick Walker continued his development on the wing at VFL level.

“‘Patty' was a little bit slow to get going but as the game went on he got more involved. He was able to use his skills and get the ball inside 50 for us. He ended up having an OK day after a slow start.”

After a difficult beginning to the VFL season last year, Adams says the side is far better placed to compete as he enters his second year at the helm.

North’s VFL side experienced a difficult start to the 2021 campaign, losing its opening five games before turning things around and winning four of its last five contests of the COVID-cancelled season.

Adams says his team is far better placed to hit the ground running in 2022.

"We were able to get a list together more quickly and we were able to training pre-Christmas which we couldn’t do last season. Clearly if you do that you’re going to get better results out on the field,” he said.

"We’ve got a much better chance to be competitive and win games of footy, and I was really happy with how we played on the weekend.

"We try to play as similarly as we can to the AFL side and play the same game-plan. We saw that in patches throughout the game and hopefully we can see a few more of those patches before we get into the season proper.”