North Melbourne’s midfield and attack have taken massive hits ahead of Friday night’s AFL match against reigning champion Hawthorn.
The ladder-leading Kangaroos have lost four players to injury for the Etihad Stadium encounter – captain Andrew Swallow, fellow midfielder Ben Cunnington and forwards Jarrad Waite and Robin Nahas.
Swallow failed to recover sufficiently from concussion suffered in last week’s loss to Geelong, while Cunnington (thigh), Waite (hip) and Nahas (finger) also were unable to be considered for selection.
The Roos summoned Corey Wagner, Majak Daw, Trent Dumont and Farren Ray as replacements.
Hawthorn, in contrast, strengthened its side by recalling prime mover Sam Mitchell from injury.
The Hawks also called on Jonathon Ceglar and Taylor Duryea to replace dropped trio Will Langford, Marc Pittonet and Angus Litherland.