North Melbourne has made five changes to its VFL side for Sunday's match with Collingwood at the AIA Centre (Olympic Park).

After missing the last month of action, defender Miller Bergman returns from a hamstring strain, along with 2023 draftee Zane Duursma.

Dylan Stephens returns after missing Round 11's win over Coburg due to illness. He is joined by VFL-listed duo Lachlan Wynd and Hamish Murphy.

Brynn Teakle makes way, having been called up for his North Melbourne AFL debut, while Blake Drury and Ben Davis will both miss through injury.

Jarrod Lienert and Alex Noblett also come out of the line-up.

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Round 12

Sunday, June 16
Collingwood v North Melbourne at AIA Centre, 11.05am AEST

North Melbourne has claimed a second straight win, comfortably defeating the Collingwood Magpies 18.12 (120) to 12.7 (79) at the AIA Centre.

The Roos got off to a flying start, kicking five goals to Collingwood’s one in the first quarter to set the tone for their 41-point victory away from home.

Young gun Zane Duursma was one of the afield, kicking the first major of the day before ending with 25 disposals and three goals in total.

Captain Jack Watkins was unstoppable in the middle, amassing a game-high 38 disposals and a whopping 17 inside 50s.

Dylan Stephens (32 disposals, seven marks) got his day off to a terrific start, slotting the first of his two goals with a rocket from beyond the 50-metre arc, 20 minutes into the opening quarter. 

Duursma was injected into the midfield throughout stages of the clash and his first quarter inside the centre square was dominant, pushing forward to kick two goals while racking up eight touches and two clearances.

The Roos strong first quarter was shown on the stats sheet, with the disposal and inside-50 counts reading 119-64 and 18-5 respectively at the first change. 

MAGPIES v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

The Pies worked their way back into the game in the early minutes of the second quarter, pinching three of the first four goals of the term, but the visitors were switched on and it was Cooper Harvey who popped up for consecutive majors.

In an impressive display forward of the ball, Harvey finished with three goals from 21 disposals and nine marks.

As half-time approached, Hugh Greenwood was able to dodge a defender and break the line to set up Geordie Payne (17 disposals, four tackles), who slotted his first goal in North Melbourne colours with a coolly taken set shot. 

Greenwood was at his combative best, tallying 19 contested possessions, 13 clearances and seven tackles, while Charlie Lazzaro saw some minutes across half-back and notched 31 disposals and five inside 50s.

Taking a 25-point advantage into the second half, key forward Tyler Sellers (three goals, eight score involvements) began to flex his muscles after Robert Hansen jnr expertly side-stepped a Collingwood defender to finish cleanly on his left.

Unable to be reeled in, the Kangas continued to skip away in the final term, with Finnbar Maley's aerial prowess on show. He clunked four contested grabs for the day – two of which led directly to his two majors.

Down the other end, defender Jarrod Leinert (24 disposals, seven intercepts) held firm in defensive 50, while Miller Bergman picked up 21 touches in his return to play.

On a sour note, Brayden George (knee) left the field in the hands of medics and didn't return after going down in a marking contest, while Louis Butler (corkie) also exited the game before the main change.

Will Phillips (AFL), Bigoa Nyuon (hip soreness), and Riley Hardeman (AFL carryover) were all withdrawn before the opening bounce.

COLLINGWOOD            1.0    6.1    10.2    12.7  (79)     
NORTH MELBOURNE    6.2    10.2    15.8    18.12  (120)     

GOALS  
Collingwood: Crocker 3, Johnson 3, Eyre, Wilson, MacDonald, Mahoney, Brown, Willis
North Melbourne: Sellers 3, Duursma 3, Harvey 3, Maley 2, Wynd 2, Hansen jnr 2, Stephens 2, Payne

BEST  
North Melbourne: Watkins, Duursma, Lienert, Lazzaro, Harvey, Stephens

INJURIES
North Melbourne: George (knee), Butler (corkie)

LATE CHANGES
North Melbourne: Will Phillips (AFL) replaced by Will Lambert, Riley Hardeman (AFL carryover) replaced by Alex Noblett, Bigoa Nyuon (injured) replaced by Jarrod Lienert