North Melbourne has kicked off its pre-season with a commanding 49-point match simulation victory over Richmond at Waverley Park.

In sunny conditions with some early morning dew covering the field in the opening proceedings, the Kangaroos were assured from the start, going on to claim the win 10.6 (66) to 2.5 (17).

Onballers Jasmine Garner and Ash Riddell were prolific in the middle and defender Libby Birch was everywhere behind the ball, while eight different Kangas hit the scoreboard.

Outscoring the Tigers in every quarter, the Roos’ best stretch came in the third when they piled on five goals, finding avenues through fast play from midfield and through some methodical uncontested work from out of defence.

Jam on

It took North Melbourne star Jasmine Garner about 60 seconds to remind everyone about just how good she is.

In the blink of an eye, the No.25 helped her side win the first clearance, delivered the ball deep inside 50, followed it up with a handball receive and snapped the opening goal.

Garner was unstoppable at stoppages and centre ball-ups throughout the course of the clash and countless times used her deft movements in the contest to find space and release her running teammates with handballs.

It’s clear the five-time Club Champion hasn’t lost a step heading into her 11th season of AFLW.

Locking it down, again

As it has been throughout the past two seasons, North Melbourne’s defence was rock solid on Wednesday.

The Roos conceded just two goals for the game and held the Tigers scoreless during the second quarter.

Desperate efforts from Jasmine Ferguson and Eliza Shannon constantly made it difficult for Richmond to find a path to goal, while Birch’s intercepting work was in full stride.

While the backs defended soundly, the midfielders and forwards provided plenty of pressure themselves. Alice O’Loughlin created shots at goal through her tackling prowess, as did Riddell, who won a free kick for holding the ball and converted from 20 metres out at the beginning of the third quarter.

New Roos find their feet

The club’s five new faces all saw minutes against the Tigers.

Maddie Torpey slotted a goal to cap an impressive strong start in Kangaroos colours, while replacement player Abby Favell stepped into the wing rotation and looked comfortable in the role.

Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner found plenty of the footy working in tandem with Sarah Wall across half-back, while fellow draftee Shauna McElligott got involved as a high half-forward.

What the coach said

"When you train against yourselves, from a pressure perspective, we don’t want any friendly fire and our girls aren’t going flat-out at one another, so it’s a bit of the unknown (these match sims)," coach Darren Crocker said post-game.

"So to come up against genuine opposition, withstand the pressure that they (Richmond) applied and still do some of the things we're trying to implement is really encouraging."

On the main positives: "There's a couple of things we’re trying to extend from a game perspective – the way we want to move the ball, the way we want to defend, and I thought there were some good signs in both those areas. To keep the opposition to a low score and still be able to tick the scoreboard over early in pre-season where things can be rusty and clunky, that's also encouraging."

On the new Roos: "Everyone that was fit and available played. To get games into the new girls - Maddison Torpey, Sarah Wall, Shauna McElligott, Kristie-Lee (Weston-Turner), Abby Favell - is really good. Getting them exposed to our game and showing them our system and how our method can hold up."

Next up

North Melbourne will host Collingwood in a match simulation at Arden Street Oval on Saturday, July 18. The opening ball-up is at 10.30am AEST.

NORTH MELBOURNE     2.2    4.5    9.6    10.6 (66)
RICHMOND                    1.1     1.1    2.2    2.5 (17)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Randall 2, O'Loughlin 2, Gatt, V Wall, Riddell, Torpey, Shierlaw, Garner