Flynn Perez’s successful return to football was the bright spark on a frustrating day for North Melbourne’s VFL side on Sunday, as the reserves were defeated by Box Hill by 37 points in their final practice match of the pre-season.

Perez played his first game after rupturing his ACL in early 2021, with his last appearance in royal blue and white coming in the final round of the 2020 AFL campaign.

VFL senior coach Leigh Adams says Perez was impressive on his return.

“It had been 549 days since Flynn had played. He played all four quarters on the wing and looked really good. I thought he was one of our better players,” Adams told North Media.

“Particularly in the first half his contested stuff was really good, he covered the ground really well and he was able to use his weapons, which are his power and his kicking, really well.

“It was a pretty hot day with limited rotations. The longer the game went on he fatigued a little bit, but he’ll only get better as the weeks go by.”

Paul Curtis has continued his red-hot form at VFL level, with the first-year forward once again getting himself amongst the goals.

After kicking two goals and two behinds in a practice game against Geelong, Adams says he backed up that performance with another strong showing.

"I thought Paul Curtis, when he got his hands on the ball, looked a class above. We probably didn’t get the ball into our forward line enough to allow him to have a full game,” Adams said.

"He kicked two or three goals and he made the most of his opportunities but he just didn’t get a lot of them."

Aiden Bonar continued his return from a wrist injury and took up the unfamiliar role of key defender against the Hawks.

“From a physical point of view ‘Bon' looked really good. He had to play a little bit taller and deeper than he would have liked and he took one of their key forwards,” Adams said.

“He was a little bit scratchy with his disposal but he’s one who’ll be much better having had a bit of a run. He competed well in defence, he just needs to tighten up his ball-use.

Bonar was a senior figure in what was a young AFL-listed backline for the Kangaroos, with Josh Goater, Miller Bergman and Jackson Archer all taking up positions in the back half of the ground.

Adams says all three of them will continue to improve as they get more experience against bigger, stronger bodies.

"It’s always interesting when you get the young kids coming straight up from NAB League. It’s such a different standard, physicality and intensity to the game,” Adams said.

“[Goater is] a really attacking, athletic half-back who uses the ball really well, he just needs to keep working on that balance of when to attack and when to defend. 

"We want him to use his weapons as much as possible and attack the game, but there are certain points in the game where he just has to go back and play on a man and beat him, and he probably didn’t quite get that balance right on the weekend.

"’Jacko’ (Archer) had some really good defensive moments, Miller Bergman was really solid and made an impact when he had the ball. They’re definitely moving in the right direction.”

Due to Jared Polec’s late exclusion from Sunday’s AFL clash with Hawthorn, Eddie Ford was called up as an emergency for the game.

After warming up at the MCG, Ford then made his way to Arden Street to play in the practice game. Adams says experiencing that less than ideal preparation will hold him in good stead for the future.

“After he wasn’t required for the seniors at the ‘G he flew across to Arden Street and got to the ground just before the bounce. It was an interesting day for him but he managed to switch his mind over really well before the game,” Adams said.

“He did some really nice things. His tackling and pressure were really hard, and he took a massive hanger as well. He was solid without being spectacular, but he’ll take a lot of lessons from how the day panned out for him.”

North’s VFL season commences this Sunday at Arden Street, as the Kangaroos take on Williamstown in Round 1.

Despite back-to-back losses to finish off the pre-season, Adams says he knows where his team will improve in the first weeks of the season.

"We’re really confident in our VFL-listed players that they’re going to be really good for us this year. We didn’t bring the mindset to compete early and gave up some easy goals,” he said.

"For us it’s about getting our defensive structure and transition behind the ball right. We looked really good in stages when we had the footy, but our skill execution let us down and when we did miss targets we didn’t look safe behind the footy. 

"We attacked the game really strongly but we need to cut out some skill errors and, when we do turn the ball over, we need to make sure we can stop that rebound turning into goals."