North Melbourne Confirms 6 Debutants For This Weekend

(Image: Getty)

After losing a truck-load of experience over the off-season, North Melbourne have named 6 fresh faces for this weekend's game against West Coast.

The number includes 4 first-gamers, while former Bulldog Nathan Hrovat and ex-Magpie Marley Williams play their first games as recruits.

Number 12 draft pick Jy Simpkin headlines the debutants, with Braydon Preuss, Mitch Hibberd and Declan Mountford rounding out the crop.

Coach Brad Scott said all 6 had earned their spots.

"We've picked the team on merit and those guys have seized their opportunities, which is exactly what we thought would happen," Scott said.

"Of those six new guys, Jy is the only first-year player, so the other boys have been working really hard over a period of time and have learnt their craft underneath some pretty good and pretty experienced players.

"So we think they're certainly more ready than back in 2010 when we were playing a whole lot of first-year players early and we persisted with them over a long period of time. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the club in all facets has a much, much better base right here, right now, than we did in 2010."

The Kangaroos take on West Coast at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.