North Melbourne are bracing for bad news on star defender Robbie Tarrant who has been hurt in their AFL intra-club hit-out.

Tarrant was crunched in a tackle by Kayne Turner during Wednesday’s city v country scratch match at Arden St.

The key defender hurt his AC joint and was sent for scans, with the Kangaroos pessimistic about the diagnosis.

Even if the news is better than expected, Tarrant is likely to be the latest withdrawal from the February 22 AFLX mini-tournament.

Tarrant was named in Patrick Dangerfield’s Bolts AFLX side for the Marvel Stadium event.

Hawthorn recruit Chad Wingard, his former Port Adelaide teammate Robbie Gray and Fremantle defender Joel Hamling have pulled out of AFLX because of injuries.

Third in last year’s club best and fairest, Tarrant remained as a vice-captain on Monday when North’s leadership group was named.

Tarrant was not the only North casualty on Wednesday, with Nick Larkey forced off the ground after a head clash and Sam Wright (hand) also hurt.

North recruit Jared Polec said the intensity of North’s pre-season had been impressive.

“The pre-season has been one of the hardest I’ve done for a while and it’s fantastic,” the former Port Adelaide onballer said.

“It’s a good culture, everyone’s really close and I’m really looking forward to it.

“Just the competitiveness (has been the hardest feature) early.

“There was no holding back. You’ve got some big blokes on the inside, so it was really good.”