NORTH Melbourne key defender Joel Tippett and ruckman Daniel Currie have firmed for selection for the Roos' round one clash against Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
North coach Brad Scott said on Tuesday that rookie Tippett would be elevated onto North's senior list ahead of Friday night, with forward Tom Curran (foot) set to be placed on the long-term injury list.
Scott also said Currie was at the head of the queue of players vying for the third tall role on the Roos' forward line, with Majak Daw not being considered because of an injury-interrupted pre-season.
"(Joel) has been in terrific form in the pre-season and taken some really big jobs on the best opposition key forwards so he'll come up off the rookie list and Dan Currie will definitely be in our squad," Scott said at Aegis Park.
"(Currie) probably hasn't transferred his training form into game form, but we're really looking for that third key forward slot and Dan has been the one who has jumped up and grabbed that opportunity more than anyone else.
"He also gives Goldstein ruck relief so those two will definitely be in the squad."
Scott said North had "some big" selection decisions to make, particularly in defence where father-son recruit Luke McDonald was vying for selection.
"We've got a choice between a really good quality young man coming through and some hardened veterans who have done the job for us before," Scott said.
Scott also confirmed Drew Petrie would continue as stand-in North Melbourne captain until Andrew Swallow make his expected return from injury between rounds five to eight.
Co-vice-captain Petrie stepped in as captain late last season after Swallow ruptured his left Achilles tendon in round 18 against Melbourne.
Scott said Petrie remained the best man for the job despite the strong leadership claims of fellow vice-captain Jack Ziebell.
"It was tempting to make (Ziebell) captain when we appointed Andrew Swallow (in 2012) too, but with Jack as a very young player we put a plan in place to put in Andrew Swallow as captain with the support of Drew Petrie as the next viable option right at that point of time," Scott said.
"And if anything happened to Andrew we'd have Drew to stand in.
"We'd allow Jack to develop his leadership skills underneath the leadership of Swallow, Petrie and Harvey, so we don't see any need to deviate from that plan."
Swallow is expected to return between rounds five and eight.
North's form was patchy this pre-season, with the Roos losing both of their NAB Challenge games, to Carlton by seven points and Hawthorn by 65 points, before winning a practice match against Geelong by nine points.
But Scott said he was happy with his club’s preparation for round one.
"We had a really planned and measured approach to the pre-season and our workload was really intense and really high and we didn't compromise that at all with the practice games early," he said.
"Last game against Geelong we sharpened up a little bit and we played more like we probably want to play in season.
"And now we sharpen up again and I expect another spike in our energy levels."
Tippett, Currie set to line up for Roos
Joel Tippett set to play his first game for North in Friday night clash
