North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says he’s excited by news the AFL club’s former No.1 ruckman Hamish McIntosh will make a comeback from a knee injury in the VFL this weekend.
McIntosh broke down in round seven on May 13 and has endured a long and frustrating recovery process, Scott said on Wednesday.
“He has been training for a while so match fitness shouldn’t be too much of an issue,” Scott told reporters.
“He’ll play minimum 50 per cent (of game time) in the VFL this week and then back available for selection which is really exciting for him and for us.”
But Scott warned McIntosh that it wouldn’t be a case of sliding straight back into the senior lineup for the eighth-placed Kangaroos, who host 16th-placed Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The 27-year-old is likely to return in coming weeks as a key forward given the good form of Todd Goldstein in the ruck.
“We’re really fortunate at the moment that we’ve got a lot of players to pick from, particularly big guys,” Scott said.
“Cam Pedersen has been in the selection mix every week this year. It’s just really difficult for him to force his way in.”
Aaron Black, Aaron Edwards, Ben Warren and Ben McKinley are other forwards knocking on the door, Scott said.
“McIntosh has just added to that mix so it puts a lot of pressure on the match committee and good pressure on our forward line that’s functioning pretty well at the moment,” Scott said.
After emotion-charged wins over Carlton and Richmond in the past two weeks, Scott says now is certainly not the time for the Kangaroos to ease up on their intensity with such a tight race for spots in the top eight.
“If we slip up, we know the consequences are pretty severe,” Scott said.
“Melbourne are trying to move the ball as quickly as any team at the moment so we know they’ve got talent.
“Any talented player allowed to play their way can be dangerous on any given day.
“We’re not good enough to go into a game thinking about experimenting with different things. We’ve just got to go out and play our way and try to keep our form where it’s been.”