North Melbourne has named an unchanged line-up for the first time this season for its clash against the Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
The Roos enter their round 11 encounter against the second-placed Swans coming off the back of a 10-point win over West Coast in Hobart.
Interim coach Darren Crocker said the Roos were showing faith in the team that got the job done against the Eagles.
"There weren’t too many passengers, most guys made a contribution and that’s why we’ve gone with an unchanged squad," Crocker told NMFC.com.au on Thursday.
“It was a pretty good performance last week in the end even though it wasn’t a four-quarter performance, but the way the guys responded and were able to rally at three-quarter time and get over the line was pleasing.”
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Crocker said tall Majak Daw had been spoken about "at length" at match committee, but his limited game time after landing awkwardly in a marking contest in the VFL last week hampered his chances.
"‘Maj’ only played one-and-a-half quarters last week so that didn’t allow him to push for senior selection," he said.
But Crocker said the 195cm ruck-forward would have found it difficult to secure a spot after fellow big man Ben Brown’s three-goal performance against the Eagles.
"Brown had a solid game, (he) provided a good target for us, worked in well with the other forwards (and) gave ‘Goldy’ (Todd Goldstein) a bit of relief in the ruck," he said.
Crocker said experienced defender Scott McMahon would take part in his second successive game for the season after playing well in defence when last week’s game was in the balance.
"He played his role really well, we know he brings a level of experience and organisation and communicates to his other defenders,” Crocker said.
"He was able to defend strongly when needed last week."
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North Melbourne team
Backs L.Hansen 6 S.Thompson 16 M.Firrito 11
Half Backs S.Wright 19 R.Tarrant 25 J.Macmillan 34
Centreline B.Harvey 29 A.Swallow 9 S.Gibson 43
Half Forwards S.Higgins 4 J.Waite 30 R.Bastinac 3
Forwards L.Thomas 12 D.Petrie 20 B.Brown 50
Followers T.Goldstein 22 B.Cunnington 10 J.Ziebell 7
Interchange B.Jacobs 5 T.Dumont 14 R.Nahas 28 S.McMahon 42
Emergencies L.Adams 13 L.McDonald 21 M.Daw 38
