He's made his name as a full-back who can shut down opposition forwards, but Luke Delaney is also becoming a handy weapon going the other way.

The 23-year old was one of several Kangaroos to impress in North's Ballarat 45-point win over Frankston on Saturday.

"He defended really well and hardly got beaten all day," Development coach Josh Drummond said of Delaney's performance.

"He was also really good offensively. He used the ball really well. It was a good even game on both sides of the footy."

Delaney (24 disposals) has not played at AFL level since Round 23 last season, but looms as a ready-made replacement should Brad Scott call on his services.

"Luke's been building for a few weeks and he's gaining some good form."

Also in defence, Max Warren (20 possessions) took another step forward in his development.

"Maxy was terrific. He was really strong in defence," Drummond added.

"He had a shaky 10 or 15 minutes there where his man was able to get involved, but after that, in the second half we were under the pump a bit and he was really strong.

"He took some good intercept marks and was also really good with the footy. He used it well and ran off which is what we are looking for from him."

The Roosters seven goal to nil first term set the tone for the day, and midfielder Ben Jacobs (31 possessions) had a big role in their early dominance.

"Benny played inside-mid all day and he did some really nice things going forward.

"He really knows where to find the footy. He got about 14 or 15 handball receives which shows he was running really hard."

Brad McKenzie's (20 disposals) start to the game was also pivotal to the result, though he was quiet thereafter.

"Baz had about 10 possessions in the first quarter and was a big reason why we kicked seven goals to nothing. He was really key in that and used the footy really well, which he always does."

Cam Richardson booted three goals up forward to get the ball rolling, before the Dolphins focused their attention on shutting him out of the game.
"His impact in the first quarter was huge. It was pretty instrumental in the win."

The focus for Mitch Wilkins in recent weeks has been the defensive side of his game, and Drummond says he's responded well to the challenge.

"I thought he defended pretty well. He only had about 12 or 13 possessions, but he shows really good signs when he's around the ball.

"A few times he was under a lot of pressure and just ducked and weaved out of it. He's very cool and calm under pressure which is a really good sign for a young player."

Ben Mabon had a quieter day after last week's standout performance, but still managed over 30 hit-outs.

North Ballarat 7.3.45, 12.6.78, 17.9.111, 20.10 130
Frankston 0.3.3, 3.6.24, 6.8.44, 12.13.85

Goals
North Ballarat: Richardson 3, Cook 3, Sewell 2, Driscoll 2, Darmody 2, George, Scott, Clifton, Kiel, McKenzie, Horbury, Austin, Schache
Frankston: Lourey 4, Lloyd 4, Buchan, Dyson, Alwan, Cass

Best
North Ballarat: Kiel, Clifton, Sewell, Delaney, Searl, Jacobs
Frankston: Hockey, Gabriel, Simpson, Alwan, Lourey, Lloyd