SPEARHEAD Jarrad Waite looks set to bolster North Melbourne's forward line for its tough clash with unbeaten Adelaide in Hobart on Saturday.
Waite has been on the sidelines since hurting the AC joint in his left shoulder late in the round one loss to West Coast, in which he kicked 1.7.
Ruckman Braydon Preuss and demoted veterans Andrew Swallow and Lindsay Thomas are also in the mix to return.
Statistics suggest the Kangaroos' hopes of upsetting the Crows for back-to-back wins for the first time since rounds 18 and 19 last year would rocket with Waite in the line-up.
Brad Scott's side has lost 13 of 16 matches without Waite since he switched to Arden St from Carlton ahead of the 2015 season, while winning 26 of 38 with him.
"(Waite)'s really close actually – we're hopeful we'll get him back," Scott told reporters on Thursday.
"We'll see how he trains today and then make a decision probably tomorrow (Friday).
"But the fortunate thing about his injury is he's been doing a hell of a lot of running and ball work … so it's not a matter of bringing him back through the VFL.
"We're confident that once he ticks the boxes in terms of contact that he'll be ready to come back and play in the AFL team."
Ben Brown, who booted a career-best six goals in last week's drought-breaking win over Gold Coast, has carried a heavy load in Waite's absence.
North targets Brown more than 2.5 times as often with Waite out of the team and he has responded to be ranked ninth in the competition in goalkicking with 17.
"The mix obviously changes, but I think if you ask any key forward, having another high-quality key forward in and around them only helps," Scott said.
"We still direct a fair bit of ball to Ben for obvious reasons and Waitey's just a foil to that – Mason Wood and Taylor Garner and our other forwards as well.
"So as many good forwards as we can get in our forward half the better."
Adelaide has a 1-5 record at Blundstone Arena, where it will face North for just the second time, but has been an irrepressible force through six rounds this year.
Rory Sloane's hot start has propelled him into Brownlow Medal favouritism, while Eddie Betts and Taylor Walker are fourth and seventh, respectively, in goalkicking in the AFL.
The Crows are the League's highest-scoring side – averaging 134 points – and ranked No.1 in marks inside 50, contested marks, goalkicking accuracy and contested possessions.
"It's not just their forward line; it's their midfield supply and the strength of their defence that allows them to attack a lot more than they defend," Scott said.
"So it's going to be a team effort through (the midfield) and we think we've got a pretty good inside midfield group, but they're going to have their work cut out for them."
