Jamie Macmillan says Ben Jacobs’ form down back will make his task of breaking back into the side a difficult one.

Macmillan has missed the last two matches due to achilles soreness, with his replacement standing up in his absence.

“He’s (Jacobs) had another really good game,” Macmillan said on SEN.

“He’s really feeling a lot more comfortable playing down back.

“When he came to the club he really saw himself as an inside midfielder, but he’s really learning his craft down in the back-line, and I know the back six are certainly loving him.”

PRESS PLAY above to listen to the Macmillan interview.

Another addition in defence, Robbie Tarrant, has received plenty of praise for his performance on Tom Hawkins.

“Watching his game, I was sitting up in the stands and thinking how well he was going, but to be honest it didn’t surprise me at all,” Macmillan said.

“I think this might be his eighth year at the club and he’s played 40-odd games. He’s played up forward, and I know he trialed down back for six or seven weeks then went back forward, so technically he’s like a brand new player for us down back.

“To keep Tom Hawkins to what he did (one goal), and the way he intercepted the footy and used the footy, ran off, it just didn’t surprise me one bit seeing the way he’s trained.”

While many were critical of North’s defensive performance in the opening rounds of the season, its back six repelled attack after attack against the Cats. Key to that effort was the form of Michael Firrito.

“It’s been an interesting two years for Spud. He had a fair few injury problems the start of last year and the year before This year has been his first pre-season in years and it’s almost like he’s getting better with age,” Macmillan said.

“Spud for me is one of the guys that you just walk taller when he’s on the field and down in the back-line with you.”

A regular in the North side in 2012 and 2013, Macmillan has battled with injury over the past year; he broke his leg in Round 3 of 2014, missing 20 weeks, and now faces another battle to get back.

“There’s a few hurdles to overcome just yet,” Macmillan admitted.

“I did train last Thursday and I got through that really well. We had the Friday off, and Saturday I came in for the day before the game little runaround and I was a little bit sore in the achilles which has been bugging me a little bit for the past few weeks.

“It’s nothing too serious, but it’s something that you don’t really want to muck around with, especially after Andrew Swallow missed a whole year a couple of years ago.

“We are just being a little bit conservative with it and trying to get that right.”