NORTH Melbourne's Ben Jacobs will have surgery to relieve a stress fracture in his foot, which will sideline the tagger for up to 10 weeks.

The 24-year-old experienced soreness in his fifth metatarsal bone following North's win over Essendon in round eight after restricting Bombers onballer David Zaharakis to just 12 disposals.

Kangaroos director of football Geoff Walsh said surgery was deemed the best option and would give Jacobs the best chance to be fully fit in the lead-up to the finals. 

"We've adopted this approach after careful consideration and thought," Walsh told nmfc.com.au on Monday evening.

"We anticipate he'll be available in 8-10 weeks, which would be close to the round 20 mark, if not before.

"That would give him a decent block of games before the finals."

Jacobs will be a significant loss for the Kangaroos given his ability to match up on the opposition's best midfielder and limit his impact on the game.

He notched his 50th game for North against St Kilda in round seven after featuring in 26 matches for Port Adelaide between 2011 and 2012.

The 185cm onballer performed his first tagging role on Sydney Swans midfielder Dan Hannebery in round 11 last season.

Jacobs joins Shaun Higgins on the club's injury list, with the half-forward ruled out for three months with a knee injury.

Fellow midfielder Daniel Wells will be monitored closely this week after picking up a recurrence of the Achilles tendinitis that interrupted much of his 2015 campaign.