Zac Fisher will miss North Melbourne's Round 7 bout with Port Adelaide due to a hamstring injury, but fellow defender Jackson Archer is on the verge of a return to action.
Fisher was subbed out during the Kangaroos' Good Friday clash with Carlton after feeling his hamstring tighten during the second quarter. North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White said the club would be taking a cautionary approach with the defender.
"Zac's scan showed very minimal disruption and his strength and function is at a high level at this early stage, which is great," North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White said.
"Given his injury history and interruptions across pre-season, we will hold Zac out from selection this week and enable a full recovery in preparation for next week."
Archer, who hasn’t played a match since being suspended in the season-opener against the Western Bulldogs, will face a fitness test later in the week to see if he's fully recovered from a hamstring issue.
The lockdown back was in line to return for Round 5 after serving his three-game ban for rough conduct, but suffered a setback in the build-up to selection.
"Jackson is progressing really well, having completed main training with the group this morning," White said.
"He has already hit his strength markers and needs to tick off his soft tissue run protocol and train on Thursday to declare himself available to play."
Brayden George (knee) is closing on a long-awaited playing comeback after receiving good news following his biomechanics assessment last Monday.
"Brayden trained unrestricted last week and will look to train unrestricted across the next 10-day period so he can return to play in the VFL next week," White said.
"He has a huge block of footy conditioning and strength under his belt which will enable a graduated return through managed minutes across his return games."
Draftee Matt Whitlock (ankle) is a chance to return to group training next week after completing a strong running session and football function session on Tuesday morning.
"Matt has done a stellar job with his professionalism in getting his ankle swelling down and functioning at a good level," White said.
Josh Goater (hamstring) has reintegrated into the main training group after making great strides with his hamstring strength.
He is slated to return in 2-3 weeks, while Callum Coleman-Jones (Achilles) is approximately one month away from returning to the field.
"Callum is continuing to progress at a strong rate with his progressions on-field, and on Tuesday he reintegrated into main group training, which was a huge milestone," White said.
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