Pick No.2 from the 2025 AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft Zac Banch will make his North Melbourne VFL debut on Saturday, being one of the five inclusions for the clash against Werribee.

The crafty small forward will start on the interchange against his former club, for whom he played a key role in their premiership-winning campaign of 2024.

He's joined in the line-up by the returning Matt Whitlock, who is back from concussion.

After four games at AFL level, Finnbar Maley returns to the VFL fray, while Louis Butler and Tyson Scoble have also been named.

Brynn Teakle, Griffin Logue, Robert Hansen jnr and Cooper Harvey are all on AFL duty and come out of the side that convincingly defeated Collingwood in Round 9, while Alex Noblett has been omitted.

How to follow the game

You can live stream the match free via the AFL website, AFL Live Official App and VFL App. Head here on gameday to keep up with the score and our best performers.

Round 11

Saturday, June 7
Werribee v North Melbourne at Avalon Airport Oval, 1.05pm AEST

North Melbourne has picked up its third win on the bounce, knocking off Werribee by 41 points on Saturday afternoon.

In a high-pressure encounter which saw the visitors lay 90 tackles, the Kangaroos held the reigning premiers to four goals up until the final change, on the way to a 6.8 (44) to 13.7 (85) victory at Avalon Airport Oval.

TIGERS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

North Melbourne booted eight goals in a row from midway through the second term to the start of the fourth quarter, with that dominance being largely set up by their damaging use by hand in transition.

Player watch

Will Phillips continued his rich vein of form with another dominant performance in the midfield. The young gun led the charge both offensively and defensively, collecting 22 disposals and laying a monstrous 21 tackles, seven of which came inside forward 50.

It was a dream Roos debut for Zac Banch (13 disposals, three tackles), who kicked three against his former side. The mid-season draftee took little time to impose himself on the contest, popping through the opening two majors of the game.

Geordie Payne was injected into the middle for periods of the day. His energy and pressure around the ball stood out as he tallied 11 tackles to go with 11 disposals and a couple of clearances.

Bailey Scott was rewarded for his work rate with 26 disposals as he played his usual role as an outside midfielder. The No.8's use by hand was a clean, stepping up as a handy link in the Roos' rapid ball movement.

Luke Urquhart (15 disposals, four clearances) fought hard through the contest and kickstarted the Kangas' dominant third quarter with a 50m long bomb that went through for a goal.

Brayden George (two goals) and Finnbar Maley (10 disposals, three contested marks) both plucked big grabs. George got up during the fourth term to pull in what was a terrific one-hander, while Maley's came late in the opening stanza.

Adam Tomlinson was the pick of the defenders, grabbing 18 disposals and eight intercepts, with his aerial presence the particular highlight.

Darcy Macpherson (24 disposals, seven intercepts) had another outstanding game from half-back, with his rebounding work helping set up a number of score launches.

What the coach said

VFL coach Tom Lynch on the win: "We were stoked with the way the players went about it today, in particular our AFL-listed boys who have stayed behind from heading over to WA.

"They competed really hard. We lost this same fixture to Werribee last year by nearly 100 points, so to turn around the performance was really impressive.

"We've been getting an even contribution from all of our players throughout the year, which gives us a real good chance to win any game. We’ve been searching for that four-quarter, high pressure performance, and we certainly got that today."

On Phillips and Payne: "Will Phillips was outstanding with 21 tackles, and that gives you a real indication of the mindset of our players. Payne also had 11 tackles, so for us to have that appetite to defend and compete in the contest was awesome."

"When we get a really even contribution from our group, we are really strong."

On Banch: "He was terrific. I'm sure kicking three goals in his first game was really fulfilling for him, but you aren’t going to get a more emotional game than playing against a team you were playing with only seven days ago.

"He was also well supported by guys like Payne, Stevens and Scoble in his first game. They were relentless with their pressure.”

Next up

North Melbourne will return to Arden Street to take on Port Melbourne next Saturday, June 14. The first bounce is scheduled for 2.05pm AEST.

WERRIBEE                       1.0    4.1    4.4    6.8    (44)
NORTH MELBOURNE       4.2    6.3    11.5    13.7    (85)

GOALS
Werribee: Dahlhaus 2, Gill, Depasquale, McCluggage, Pinnuck
North Melbourne: Banch 3, Sulzberger 2, George 2, Duursma, Lowe, Urquhart, Stevens, Goad, Dawson

BEST
North Melbourne: Phillips, Macpherson, Scott, Banch, W Dawson, Coleman-Jones