North Melbourne's VFL program continued its pre-season on Sunday with a hitout against Collingwood at Arden Street.

Young tall Matt Whitlock and smalls Zac Banch and Charlie Spargo were among the standouts in the 11.8 (74) to 15.14 (104) loss. 

NMFC Media spoke with coach Adam Marcon following the match.

What the coach said

"There were some good learnings out of it, particularly early," Marcon said.

"We were down by four goals or so at quarter-time but then we managed to get organised. In the second half we showed some really good signs and growth which was promising with what was a pretty young group out there.

"It was a good hitout. Everyone got through, importantly, and we’ll review it strongly."

On Zac Fisher

"'Fish' played mostly forward. He’s always creative and always able to impact the game. He's just working on his forward craft, getting up the ground and helping to support some of our transition."

On Wil Dawson

"'Shotgun' was good. He's working on his positioning and the defensive side of his game obviously as a key back, and he’s really coming along.

"He won a few contests for us and turned the ball back over for us which was good."

On Hugo Mikunda

“Mikunda is showing some really good signs off half-back. His attacking flair is on show, he’s really explosive with ball in hand and he’s creative. Now it’s just teaching him some of the defensive principles of the game.

"He hasn’t played much in the backline to this point so we’re working through his positioning and he’s showing improvement in those areas … he’s an exciting prospect."

On Brayden George 

"He was able to hit the scoreboard and kick a goal. He showed some good signs as he integrates back in, probably wasn’t as influential as he was against Casey, but he played the whole game, which is a positive."

On Matt Whitlock 

"He was probably the standout. He kicked three goals and is really making the most of his opportunities at the moment, particularly inside 50.

"He’s looking really clean and crafty for a tall forward and he’s developing nicely."

On River Stevens

"River was able to apply a lot of good pressure. He gets up and down the ground really well in transition and now it’s just about finishing his work inside 50 and getting the reward for effort that he puts in every week."

On Charlie Spargo

"Charlie was really good. He’s progressing well and that was his first full game back. He kicked a couple of goals, was crafty in the forward half and he provided some really good leadership down there too."

On Zac Banch

“His run and overlap were positive. He played in the front end as well. The pressure he applied and his ability to spread the field on offence is really strong. He’s had a couple of good weeks in a row now."