Dynamic forward Lindsay Thomas will return after two weeks on the sidelines, named in North’s final 22 to take on Richmond.
Thomas sat out the last two matches with a foot injury, but will be vital to the Roos’ chances on Sunday.
The number 12 has booted 32 goals for the season, and kicked bags of five and three in Rounds 19 and 20 respectively before succumbing to injury.
On Thursday, North coach Brad Scott praised Thomas’ approach to training, saying he’d “picked himself”.
The nine players rested for last week’s match have all been recalled to the side, with North fielding arguably its strongest lineup of 2015.
Luke McDonald, Aaron Mullett and Ryan Bastinac are the unlucky omissions from the initial 25-man squad.
North team
Backs M.Firrito 11 S.Thompson 16 S.Atley 18
Half Backs S.Wright 19 R.Tarrant 25 J.Macmillan 34
Centreline N.Dal Santo 15 J.Ziebell 7 B.Jacobs 5
Half Forwards S.Higgins 4 D.Petrie 20 T.Garner 27
Forwards B.Brown 50 J.Waite 30 B.Harvey 29
Followers T.Goldstein 22 A.Swallow 9 B.Cunnington 10
Interchange L.Hansen 6 L.Thomas 12 R.Nahas 28 S.Gibson 43
Emergencies R.Bastinac 3 L.McDonald 21 A.Mullett 41
In: N.Dal Santo , J.Waite , M.Firrito , A.Swallow , S.Higgins , L.Thomas , T.Goldstein , S.Wright , B.Cunnington , S.Thompson
Out: J.Tippett (Omitted) , R.Bastinac (Omitted) , M.Daw (Omitted) , A.Mullett (Omitted) , A.Black (Omitted) , B.McKenzie (Omitted) , M.Wood (Omitted) , T.Dumont (Omitted) , L.McDonald (Omitted) , K.Turner (Concussion)
Richmond team
Backs C.Newman 1 J.Batchelor 11 A.Rance 18
Half Backs B.Houli 14 N.Vlastuin 31 T.Chaplin 25
Centreline B.Ellis 5 T.Cotchin 9 K.McIntosh 33
Half Forwards D.Martin 4 B.Griffiths 24 S. Edwards 10
Forwards J.Riewoldt 8 B.Deledio 3 T.Vickery 29
Followers I.Maric 20 S.Grigg 6 T.Hunt 28
Interchange D.Grimes 2 A.Miles 26 R Conca 30 K Lambert 48
Emegencies S Morris 38 S Lloyd 27 B Lennon 35
In: B.Griffiths , R.Conca
Out: S Lloyd , B Lennon
A crowd of more than 80,000 is expected for the MCG blockbuster on Sunday, with limited tickets remaining.
North Melbourne will hold an open training session this Saturday (September 12, 2015) at Arden Street from 11.15am-12.00pm.
