The return of Nick Larkey will go a long way towards helping North Melbourne turn its form around, according to teammate Luke McDonald.

Larkey played his first game since round one on Saturday, and while his two goals were handy, it’s his teammates who could benefit most from his presence.

“We’ve been hanging to get ‘Larks’ back into the team,” McDonald said on SEN.

“He’s going to make the job a lot easier for him and Benny Brown and all the other forwards.”

The 22-year-old booted 26 goals last season, before succumbing to a hotspot in his foot during the postponement of the season.  

“You need a quality defender to stop Nick’s influence,” McDonald said.

“He’s only young as well, so he’s only going to get better. He’s one of the ones I’m really looking forward to growing over this season and the next few.”

After two games out with a quad injury, Jed Anderson was another player to make a welcome return against Carlton.

The North number three proving to be somewhat of a barometer for the team, with his unrelenting approach to the contest.

As Patrick Cripps threatened to win the game off his boot in the first term, Anderson took on a vital tagging role.

“Jed went to Patty Cripps and sort of changed the momentum of the game a little bit I reckon,” McDonald said.

“He was really good, Jed, for the majority of the day.”

After a five-goal to one first term in Carlton’s favour, the Roos got the game back on their terms.

“The midfield starting getting on top, and we started getting more out of our ball movement,” McDonald said.

“Hopefully that second quarter can be a turning point for the remainder of the year.

“We’ve taken a lot of positives from that game but at the end of the day, we didn’t win, and that’s what we are in the caper to do – win games.”