North Melbourne will look to bounce back from its 16-point defeat to the Western Bulldogs when it faces Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

The Roos pushed the Demons to the limit in their Round 15 meeting last season but will be hoping to do enough this time around to collect the four points.

Senior coach Alastair Clarkson won't have defenders Griffin Logue or Jackson Archer at his disposal, after Logue suffered a minor hamstring strain and Archer a three-match suspension against the Bulldogs.

Round 2, North Melbourne v Melbourne
Where: Marvel Stadium, VIC
When: Sunday, March 23 at 3.20pm AEDT
How to watch: Channel 7, Foxtel, Kayo Sports

The opposition

A late major from Greater Western Sydney's Lachlan Keeffe ended the Demons' chances of claiming a Round 1 win, as they went down to the Giants by three points at the MCG.

Christian Petracca was at his dynamic best after being sidelined for the second half of the 2024 season due to injury. He gathered 27 touches and booted two goals, while Jack Viney (27 disposals) and Max Gawn (24) were also strong in the narrow defeat.

Tom McDonald and Jake Lever will line up as the primary key defenders, with Steven May ruled out again due to a fractured larynx.

Milestone man

After 298 games as an Eagle and just the one as a Kangaroo, Jack Darling will run out for his 300th AFL appearance on Sunday.

A 2018 Premiership player with the West Coast Eagles and four-time club leading goal kicker, he is set to become the 106th player in VFL/AFL history to reach 300 games.

The veteran played the role he was brought into Arden Street to play last Saturday night, kicking one goal from 15 touches while providing support for spearhead Nick Larkey inside forward 50.

In-form Roo

Nick Larkey

The sharpshooter shrugged off an injury concern to finish as one of North Melbourne's top performers against the Bulldogs.

He slammed through five goals from eight disposals on Saturday, getting his 2025 campaign off to a blistering start.

What the coach has said

North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson on Thursday: "We were really competitive against the Western Bulldogs on the weekend ... we know that if we can compete deeper into these games like we did on the weekend, then at some point in time, that's going to turn into some victories for us.

"Once you start to get that belief then it can snowball. Just at the minute, there's part of it where we just have to learn how to win again and hopefully we're on that path."