North Melbourne ruckman Daniel Currie had waited eight years for his first kick in AFL football, so you couldn't blame him for being "filthy" when he was denied a first-up shot on goal.

In his long-awaited debut, the 25-year-old was lining up for a set shot just before half-time against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday night when teammate Lindsay Thomas gave away an undisciplined free kick off the ball.

Currie's attention was firmly fixed on the goals – awaiting what would have been a momentous occasion in his hard-won career – when the umpire came charging forward to take the ball away from him.

"I wasn't sure what was happening. I knew it was a free against, but I didn't know what it was for," Currie told AFL.com.au after the game.

"I was pretty shattered, actually."

The Kangaroos big man joked that Thomas would feel his wrath during the team's film session this week.

"Once I found out it was 'Boofy' (Thomas) I was pretty filthy at him, but these things happen."

"I reckon I'll let him know during the week."

As he had done throughout his career, Currie was forced to wait.

But his persistence was rewarded in the third quarter as he took a strong mark deep in the forward line and split the big sticks, prompting teammates to come from all angles to celebrate.

Currie's first game was an occasion that even he thought might never come.

Drafted by the Sydney Swans as a raw 17-year-old back in 2006, Currie spent five seasons on the club's list before they let him go at the end of 2011.

Not one to let things slide on by, Currie decided to take a punt and continue his footy dream by playing for North Adelaide in the SANFL.

The Kangaroos saw enough of Currie in 2012 to give him a second chance and drafted the 201cm ruckman with pick No. 56 in that year's draft.

At 24, in 2013, he was ready to go. But the depth of North's tall stocks held him back, consigning him to a full year of development in the VFL.

Again, he needed to be patient.

"The battle we've had, like a lot of clubs, is if you've got a dominant ruckman (Todd Goldstein) and you want to play two, then they've got to be able to play somewhere else," North Melbourne coach Brad Scott said.

"So Cuz (Currie) has had to work on becoming a threat forward, and while he didn't dominant the game, I thought he did some really good stuff in the ruck and he gave us a constant target forward."

Currie believes North's one-two punch, with him and Goldstein manning the rucking duties, can endure.

"It's worked tonight, so hopefully we can continue that. As long as I'm having an impact up forward and making sure we're both competing in the ruck, then I don't see any reason why we can't."