NORTH Melbourne youngster Zane Duursma's hopes of breaking into the club's round one team have taken a blow, with the high-flying forward suffering a quad injury late last week.

Duursma was withdrawn from North Melbourne's team that lost to Melbourne in an unofficial scratch match last weekend, with scans revealing the talented teenager has suffered a low-grade quad strain.

While the Kangaroos haven't yet ruled Duursma out of the season's opening weeks, hoping he can stake his claim in a VFL practice match next weekend, he now faces an uphill battle to take on the Western Bulldogs in just 18 days' time.

Duursma was named in a clearly weaker 'B-Team' for a North Melbourne intraclub earlier this month, but was the standout player featuring purely through the midfield in an effort to impress ahead of round one.

There had been high hopes the former No.4 pick would ultimately crack Alastair Clarkson's plans for that match against the Western Bulldogs, with his recent quad setback an untimely blow on the eve of the 2025 season.

North Melbourne will already be without gun young midfielder George Wardlaw for at least the first month of the upcoming campaign, as he battles another worrying hamstring injury sustained at training.

Josh Goater is six weeks away from a return following his own hamstring issue, which came at the end of his recovery from a ruptured Achilles, while Zac Fisher will be sidelined for another fortnight as he battles a hamstring problem.

Callum Coleman-Jones remains North Melbourne's only long-term injury concern, with the ruck-forward not expected to return from his own ruptured Achilles until around May-June at the earliest.

Duursma played 13 games in his debut season last year, kicking nine goals.