Aaron Black has put his best foot forward for a senior promotion, kicking five goals for North Ballarat in its 85-point win against Bendigo in the VFL.

The youngster adds to North Melbourne’s enviable key-position depth in the forward half, and development coach Josh Drummond says continued good form should put him in the mix for a call-up.

“His (Black's) finishing skills stood out on a night where it was pretty windy and the skills at times weren’t the greatest,” Drummond told NMFC.com.au.

“When he got his half-chances and chances he put them away and he got his goals in a variety of ways. There were a couple on the lead, a couple from open play.

“If he continues that his opportunity will come sooner rather than later.”

Ben Jacobs continued his quest to be recalled to the senior side with an impressive 41 possession game, 23 of which were contested.

“He played really well and spent a fair bit more time as an inside midfielder,'' Drummond said of the midfielder.

''He was important for the whole evening but he kicked a really nice goal at the start of the last quarter which was a big momentum boost for us.

“After getting brought back last week it’s good to see two strong performances in a row.

“Now that he’d played an extra week with the guys at Ballarat he had a better understanding with his teammates. He got a lot of the footy but he used it well which was the main focus.''

Taylor Garner had a quiet start to the game but flourished as it wore on. Drummond explained the role the first-year player is tasked to learn is one of the toughest in football.

“He started in that midfield/forward role and he was pretty quiet in the first quarter.

“When you speak to guys like Leigh Adams about the role Taylor is playing, it’s an extremely hard thing to do. You can go a quarter, a half, a game without getting near it even though you’re doing everything right and things that have worked in the past.

“So we put him up in the midfield where he’s a bit more comfortable at this stage. He had one touch in the first quarter and ended with 18 touches for the game.

“From his development point of view the midfield/forward role is where he’ll be best suited in the future.''

Tom Curran ventured back to his home town in Bendigo and responded with a strong performance. He collected 23 possessions, 11 marks and a goal.

“To get the numbers that he got shows his effort is right up there. You don’t get that unless you’re working really hard.

“His stat sheet would look even better if a couple of kicks inside 50 were able to hit him on target.”

Brad McKenzie was another who improved his output.

“Brad was good again playing in his role on the wing. In terms of his positioning and his running patterns he was impressive in his time on the ground," Drummond added.

“On a wing sometimes the ball will follow you and on others it won’t get close to you, but during the game he was solid throughout with no lapses.”

Down the other end of the ground, Luke Delaney was solid in defence.

“Luke didn’t get beaten in a contest all night.

''There were different times in the game where we were under some pretty big pressure from Bendigo. In those moments 'Keys' was extremely strong.

“It was a very good defensive game. He played the percentages with a lot of spoils and his opponent barely took a mark all night. It was good for him to bounce back."

Max Warren had 14 touches and an impressive 15 one percenters.

“First and foremost Max has been concentrating on his defensive output. Once again last night he was very good in that respect with a lot of tackles and a lot of spoils. He didn’t get a lot of the ball but that wasn’t his role,” Drummond said.

“The next step is to get him more involved with the ball which will come with time.”

After signs of improvement in the last fortnight, Mitch Wilkins turned in what Drummond labeled his best game of the season.

“The last few weeks we’ve had a stronger focus on Mitch’s defensive side of the game. He’s already comfortable in possession but when he’s playing down back, his defence has to come first and not the other way around.

“He made some very good strides with that this week. He’s had 13 or 14 touches in each of the last three weeks but that will come. His defensive performance was very encouraging."

Cam Richardson didn’t play due to illness while Ben Mabon was serving a one-match suspension.

North Ballarat 1.2.8, 7.11.53, 9.13.67, 21.15.141
Bendigo 1.4.10, 3.5.23, 6.11.47, 7.14.56

Goals
North Ballarat: Black 5, Linke 4, Darmody 3, Driscoll 2, Horbury 2, Sewell, Curran, McKenzie, Keeble Jacobs
Bendigo: Stroobants 2, Thomson, Putt, Hams, Magin, Brooker

Best
North Ballarat: Jacobs, Sewell, Black, Linke, Clifton, Keeble
Bendigo: Hams, Stroobants, Farrelly, Toman, Brooker, Pollock