Interim North Melbourne coach Leigh Adams has praised the attitude of No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis after he was omitted in the week leading up to the Round 22 clash against Adelaide.

The South Australian responded emphatically in the VFL side’s 58-point win over Coburg, collecting 29 disposals, nine clearances and six marks.

With one round left in the season, Horne-Francis will be in the selection mix, but hasn’t yet been locked in to play the Suns at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

“His attitude has been fantastic, so he’ll be right in calculations to come back into the team this week,” Adams said on Wednesday.

“We’ll see how we get through (main training) with all our injuries and we’ll have match committee after training, but he’ll be thereabouts because his game and his attitude were great on the weekend.” 

Almost at season’s end, Adams is looking forward to trying to finish on a positive note after a difficult year.

“We’re really confident that our best footy at the moment stacks up against most clubs, we probably just haven’t been able to do it for long enough periods of time,” he said.

“We feel like if we bring our best footy on the weekend for four quarters that we’re going to be right in this game and we’d love it, particularly for everyone around the footy club, but for our players to finish off with a win after what’s been a tough year on the field.

“For the last six weeks their efforts and attitudes have been fantastic, and we’d love to cap that off with a win on Saturday.” 

Having played his first game of AFL since Round 19, 2021, Adams touched on Ben Cunnington’s fitness.

“He pulled up surprisingly well,” Adams said.

“We probably thought that he’d be a bit sore and maybe a little bit touch and go for this week after such a long layoff, but he’ll train fully today, and he’ll be right to go again this week.

“It’ll be great for our Melbourne supporters to see him live for the last time this year and being away from home (in his return game) it wasn’t as big a celebration for our supporters, but this week they can celebrate one of our champions coming back.” 

The club will also be giving thanks to its record-breaking number of devoted supporters with Member Appreciation Round celebrations.