Jackson Archer will join his famous father as a Shinboner when he features for the first time at senior level on Sunday against Adelaide.

Drafted with pick 59 in last November's national draft, Archer will become the 1044th player to have represented the North Melbourne men's team.

The 19-year-old made one appearance for the Roos' reserve team last season, and plucked seven marks in a promising performance.

So far this season he has simmered away on the half-back flank in the VFL, where his game sense and confidence has exponentially grown.

His progress has been subtle, but has not been lost on the match committee. Archer has featured on the Roos' emergency list for five consecutive rounds.

Archer's father Glenn has long been hailed as the 'Shinboner of the Century,' having been an exemplar of the club's honest, fighting spirit.

A gritty defender, Archer played 311 games for North Melbourne from 1992 to 2007, including the 1996 and 1999 premiership victories.

He was named the Norm Smith medallist in the earlier triumph, and won All-Australian selection on three occasions.

Perhaps most pertinently, he was awarded the Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player six times in nine seasons.

Archer was also the Roos' games record-holder for almost four years.

He went past Wayne Schimmelbusch's former record of 306 in Round 21, 2007, and held the record until Brent Harvey played his 312th of 432 games in Round 12, 2011.