NORTH Melbourne's forward line has been weaker for Aaron Edwards' absence, says coach Dean Laidley.

Edwards was disciplined by North's leadership group for an incident on January 26 when he was pulled over for speeding on the way to training and refused a blood-alcohol test.

He has trained with his teammates, but the 25-year-old has been ineligible for senior selection until this week.

Speaking from Old Melbourne Gaol on Friday morning, Laidley said Edwards deserved an immediate recall.

"It’s been pretty tiring mentally and physically for him," he said.

"He's handled himself really well to the point where we’ve brought him straight back in.

"We've missed Aaron, there's no doubt about that. Drewy (Petrie) and Haley (David Hale) probably haven't been in the best form. But we saw a little bit of it last week.

"Now we’re starting to get a little bit of a mix, a bit similar to what we had previously."

Laidley added that he had noticed a change in Edwards' attitude during his stint on the outer, which has neared three months.

He has represented VFL affiliate North Ballarat in that time.

"He's been outstanding with the work that he's done at the football club," Laidley said.

"He's spent a lot of time with our marketing department, ringing members who haven't renewed their membership.

"The other stuff he's done with his training has been first-class."

Laidley said Edwards and Ben Warren, who made his debut against Essendon last week, could encourage a similar structure to the one formed by Corey Jones and retired pair Nathan Thompson and Shannon Grant in recent years.

"These guys are probably less experienced but we're going to go with them and we think they're our future," he said.

North will unveil another debutant, 2007 draftee Levi Greenwood, when it hosts winless Richmond at Docklands on Saturday night.

Greenwood was named as an emergency last week and Laidley said the South Australian's attack on the ball and the man at VFL level had been outstanding.

"He had a little bit of OP (osteitis pubis) last year which was really difficult for him," he said.

"He's ready to go now ... and we're really looking forward to seeing how he goes.

"We gave them both (Greenwood and Warren) a game in the pre-season. We thought they performed really well and, a few weeks down the track, they're in the senior side."

However, Daniel Harris remains on the cusp and Laidley said the form of draftee Jack Ziebell, Andrew Swallow, Adam Simpson and Michael Firrito had made it difficult for the experienced midfielder to break into the line-up.

"He played last Saturday night for Werribee but the previous two weeks he didn't play because there was a bye and then Werribee didn't have a game," he said.

"He was on the verge last week. If Jack Ziebell didn't come up, he would have been playing.

"He's just got to keep working on his game and, when he gets his opportunity, make sure he's ready to perform."