Despite it being a pre-season contest, don’t expect either team to hold back on Saturday, according to North assistant coach Leigh Tudor.

Tudor has been handed the reins to the team by senior coach Brad Scott as North prepares to take-on Melbourne in the JLT Community Series opener.

“It’s our first major hit-out against opposition. We’ve been playing against each other for a fair bit now, so we’re looking forward to trying out a few new things we’ve been working on over the pre-season,” Tudor told the media.

“We’ve worked on a lot of things like ball movement, team defence and stoppages, so hopefully we see it come out tomorrow.”

For the North players set to line up, it’s the perfect opportunity to put their best foot forward ahead of Round 1 and prove why they deserve a spot in the side come March 24.

“With only two major practice games, it’s probably a big audition,” Tudor said.

“We’ve got a lot of senior guys who want to play, so it’s a big test.

“I think we had 12 or 13 new guys that played for us last year, so they’re all really keen to try and put their best foot forward and get a start Round 1.”

Two players set to feature are Tasmanian natives Ben Brown and Mitchell Hibberd.

Tudor is looking forward to seeing both players turn their strong pre-season form into on-field performances.

“(Ben’s) had an awesome pre-season, probably the best one he’s had at the club,” he said.

“He’s been working on a few new tricks so hopefully we see them tomorrow.”

As for Mitch Hibberd, he’ll be looking to impress in the hope of adding to his four AFL games in 2017.

“Mitch has had a good pre-season, so he’ll get his opportunity down back and on the wing, and hopefully he takes his chance,” Tudor added.

There will be new faces on display too, with recruit Billy Hartung looking to build on the good impression he’s already made at his new club.

“(Billy’s) fitted in really well so far,” Tudor said.

“He’s worked on the way we want to play, he runs really well, he’s used the ball well with us at training, so I expect him to fit in really nicely.

“He’ll play wing and forward I imagine.”

Saturday’s match is the first of a four day trip to Tasmania for North, with the players and coaches set to take part in community events and camps.

“We love coming down to Tassie,” Tudor added.

“We’re down here for a couple of days, we’ve got the community camp as well, so the boys really look forward to coming down here.

 “We’ve got a great relationship down here."