North has named its strongest VFL side of the pre-season ahead of an Easter Saturday practice match.
The 25-man squad is made up of 18 AFL-listed players, and seven VFL-listed players, and will take on Collingwood’s VFL side at Olympic Park at 6.30pm on Saturday night.
Highlighting the group of AFL-listed stars is Sam Wright, who will play his first game of football in almost two years after missing the entire 2017 season with a series of foot injuries and setbacks.
Wright, who initially suffered the injury in Round 11, 2016, has been training with the main AFL squad for much of the pre-season, but has remained cautious to ensure he can regain some consistency in his game.
The defender is set to partner with fellow AFL-listed players Ben McKay, Majak Daw, Daniel Nielson, Alex Morgan and Tom Murphyin the back half.
Nick Larkey will look to build on his impressive pre-season form, following bags of three and seven in the initial two practice matches.
VFL co-captain Chris Jansen will make his first appearance in the royal blue and white, however fellow co-captain Michael Close will miss this weekend’s match.
An impressive midfield brigade made-up of Chris Jansen, Nash Holmes and Nick Rippon will feature, with the likes of Jordan Harper also spending time in the middle.
Mitch Rodd has overcome a small injury setback to work his way into this weekend’s squad, which has provided him a good opportunity to push his case for selection in North VFL’s season-opener in a fortnight.
Find North’s 25-man squad below:
3 - Nick Rippon
5 - Cameron Zurhaar
6 - Tom Jeffries
8 - Tom Murphy
11 - Jordan Harper
10 - Chris Jansen
11 - Nash Holmes
12 - Majak Daw
13 - Gordon Narrier
17 - Mitch Hibberd
18 - Louis Cunningham
19 - Sam Wright
21 - Alex Morgan
22 - Nick Larkey
23 - Ben McKay
24 - Sam Durdin
26 - Daniel Nielson
27 - Will Walker
31 - Braydon Preuss
32 - Mason Wood
33 - Tyrone Leonardis
34 - Paul Ahern
38 - Tristan Xerri
42 - Declan Mountford
