NORTH Melbourne has been dealt a massive blow ahead of Friday night's clash against Richmond with star ruckman Todd Goldstein ruled out.

Goldstein hurt his knee in last week's loss to the Sydney Swans and barely trained all week.

Final teams and benches for Friday night

He flew to Tasmania with the rest of the team on Thursday, but was withdrawn ahead of the clash in Hobart.

Majak Daw has come in as his replacement.

The Tigers made an extremely late change after Dylan Grimes injured a hamstring in the warm-up. Troy Chaplin has been brought into the team.

Richmond suffered more bad luck with small defender Steven Morris taken from the ground by stretcher after injuring his right leg in the opening minutes of the match.