Ben Cunnington heads a list of four inclusions in North’s squad of 25 for Sunday's clash against Richmond at the MCG.
Two strong performances in the VFL for North Ballarat convinced Brad Scott and the match committee the midfielder was ready to take his place in the senior side.
"He's ready to go. We sent him back to the VFL for a reason, to get some real confidence. He hasn't lost any of his outstanding ability. We need him now, need him to step up," Scott said in the Interactive team of the week video.
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However he is not yet locked into the final 22, with Scott declaring Levi Greenwood and Cruize Garlett also in contention to replace Jack Ziebell. Greenwood's ability to play as a tagger could also help his cause.
"We know what a hard, contested player Levi is. When you're looking to replace Jack Ziebell's hard toughness, then Levi Greenwood is certainly someone you look to," Scott added.
Cam Pedersen has also been named.
"I think he's an AFL player. He deserves to be playing AFL football each week. At the moment he's just been kept out by the players who are performing at AFL level.
"Obviously there's a bit of a question mark over (Drew) Petrie but we're confident Pedersen could come in and replace Drew. It's good that we've got the depth."
Despite it being a long and controversial week, Scott was adamant nothing would distract the group from Richmond.
"We've got to be galvanised in our approach to the contest and we've got to make sure nothing takes our focus away from the task at hand."
B: Scott McMahon, Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito
HB: Shaun Atley, Nathan Grima, Jamie Macmillan
C: Ryan Bastinac, Daniel Wells, Sam Gibson
HF: Lindsay Thomas, Robbie Tarrant, Sam Wright
F: Lachlan Hansen, Drew Petrie, Kieran Harper
Fol: Todd Goldstein, Andrew Swallow, Brent Harvey
Int From: Liam Anthony, Ben Cunnington, Leigh Adams, Levi Greenwood, Cruize Garlett, Matt Campbell, Cam Pedersen
In: Levi Greenwood, Cruize Garlett, Ben Cunnington, Cam Pedersen
Out: Jack Ziebell (suspension)
Milestone: Ryan Bastinac - 50 games
