Brad Scott had one of the toughest weeks in his coaching career with North’s depth causing headaches at the selection table.

In his sixth year the helm, he admitted selecting a final 22 for the Adelaide encounter was his most challenging.

“It was the toughest match committee since I’ve been here (at North Melbourne),” he told NMFC.com.au.

“(We had) really challenging decisions and a multitude of factors. Whichever way we sliced and diced the side, there was a counter argument which was really strong.

“Cameron Joyce and Bryce Lewis have built a really strong list and a deep list and that’s given us a good problem at match committee.”

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Talented players such as Aaron Black, Robbie Tarrant, Mason Wood and Robin Nahas were squeezed out of the side selected to play against Adelaide on Sunday.

“We’ve picked the team that we think’s going to give us the best chance of winning the game…I suspect the side’s going to change a fair bit throughout the year.

“It’s not just the 25, Mason Wood’s terribly unlucky to miss after some early pre-season form but we know he’s going to play some senior footy for us throughout the year.

“The three guys who have missed out are going to play a lot for us, Aaron Black’s going to play a lot, Mason Wood, Trent Dumont so a number of guys who are really unlucky so that just speaks to the club’s depth.”

Despite promoting Nahas to the senior list, the small forward traveled to Adelaide as an emergency.

“We wanted him in our squad to give us some added flexibility so we’ve upgraded him, he’s in good form.”

Scott said his emotions are in check ahead of the season opener and knows the side is ready to go.

“The nerves are ok, we’re really well prepared…you take your confidence out of your preparation and our preparation has been good.

“There’s always trepidation leading into round one, there’s always a sense of the unknown. Adelaide haven’t played a real game and neither have we so the form-line we’ve got to go on is not real form so there’s always a bit of trepidation.