RECRUITS Shaun Higgins and Jarrad Waite made instant impacts for their adopted club North Melbourne but their new boss is tempering his enthusiasm.

Higgins and Waite kicked three goals each in North's 10-point loss to Adelaide in Sunday's NAB Challenge game in Port Lincoln.

The experienced pair joined the Roos from the Western Bulldogs and Carlton respectively last October as free agents.
 
North coach Brad Scott said both recruits had encouraging performances but noted they had been training for longer than their new teammates, who had a delayed return to the track after playing in last year's preliminary final.

"They were good," Scott said of the recruits.

"It's pretty instructive I think when Waite and Higgins have been training for a month longer than the rest of our group and they looked a bit further advanced than everyone else in our team.

"We knew we were probably a bit behind in our preparation but we have still got time to do the work.

"We didn't want to rush into intra-club games and then risk other injuries and try and race to the line because it's a really long season obviously."

Scott said the 32-year-old Waite would offer valuable support for North's key forward Drew Petrie.

"He just gives us more versatility," he said.

"Petrie has carried the load for so long for us as our genuine key forward and we're really looking forward [to having the extra option].

"Next week we'll probably bring Aaron Black back, we'll probably bring Mason Wood in, we'll mix things up a little bit – the emergence of Ben Brown has given us another option as well.
 
"Drew's still a really good player and one of the best key forwards in the competition in my opinion but it's good to give him some support and Jarrad will do that."
 
Majak Daw's athleticism was on full show in Port Lincoln, with the ruckman rising high above packs to assert his dominance in the air.
 
He finished the game with a match-high seven marks (three of which were contested) and 24 hit-outs.
 
Scott said the club would continue working closely with Daw to improve his grasp of the game's finer points.
 
"He's a very good contested mark and because he's so athletic he can get a bit of free space when he jumps for the footy and when he gets that he generally marks it," Scott said.
 
"Majak's got a lot of work to do in terms of his understanding of the game.
 
"There are some things he can do that very few others can so we'll just keep working with him."
 
Majak Daw is a $260,000 forward in NAB AFL Fantasy this year. Create and fill your AFL Fantasy Classic league by March 2 to win a free AFL Live pass.

Twitter: @AFL_Harry