North Melbourne will go into Round 2 with a very healthy list.
Among their few concerns is a pair of injuries suffered at training earlier in the week and star midfielder Shaun Higgins believes neither Ed Vickers-Willis nor Taylor Garner will be available.
“Unfortunately we had Ed Vickers-Willis coming back from knee surgery, he injured a big toe and there was a hamstring to Taylor Garner so there’s a couple guys unfortunately who won’t be there,” he told SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
However, one of the big winners of the time off has been Roos captain Jack Ziebell.
“I guess the one positive for us is the skipper Jack Ziebell suffered a knee injury in Round 1, but he’s going to be right to go for Round 2,” Higgins said.
“Not sure that’s ever happened before where you can have knee surgery after Round 1 and be back for Round 2, but that’s a positive for us.
“He had an interrupted pre-season so in a way this period has been great for Ziebell to get the work back in, he’s in good nick and training well.”
The Kangaroos take on GWS in Round 2 and will have to share a plane from Melbourne to Sydney with Essendon, who take on the Swans on the same afternoon.
North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw joked earlier in the week that he didn’t want to share a plane with the Bombers.
When asked how the two teams would divide up seats in business class, Higgins said he hopes seniority gets him in.
“Maybe we’ll have to pull out the age or the game’s played, I think, but we’ll obviously spread out and get the necessary space that we need and I think that’s the least of the worries for these little trips,” he said.
“I haven’t thought about it but you could be due to meet that team (you’re sharing a plane with) in the coming weeks as well so all adds to the drama I guess.”
The Bulldogs and Pies will likely share a plane to Sydney in Round 4 when they take on the two New South Wales teams on Thursday and Friday night respectively
Hawthorn and Melbourne will do the same the following week on Sunday afternoon.
