NORTH Melbourne expects a response from Adelaide's star players on Saturday night, but insists it has the weapons to counter what the Crows can throw its way.

 

Crows coach Brenton Sanderson called on his senior players to up their game at Adelaide Oval, after an embarrassing second half against Fremantle last weekend saw 19 players fail to poll club champion votes for the round.

 

Some of the side's biggest names in Patrick Dangerfield, Taylor Walker, James Podsiadly and Eddie Betts struggled to have an impact on the game.

 

Kangaroos forward Robbie Tarrant, who will play his first game for year on Saturday, said his side expected big games from the Crows' best.

 

"Good players bounce back – they're good players," Tarrant said.

 

"But we back our guys in the side and we back our defenders in, so we're in for a contest and we're not going to shy away from that."

 

Tarrant will line up for his first senior game in 2014 on Saturday night, having been sidelined for all but last week through the reoccurrence of his mystery leg injury.

 

The same affliction, described as a tibial stress reaction, ruined the first part of Tarrant's 2013 campaign too, when he missed nine straight games after playing in the opening three rounds.

 

The 25-year-old collected 12 disposals, took seven marks and kicked a goal in his return to competitive football last week.

 

He insisted that after just one VFL game he was ready to spend as much time on the ground as coach Brad Scott wanted him to.

 

"For the last five or six weeks I've done a really solid training program and played in the VFL last week and physically I felt really good out there…[it was] probably the best I've pulled up all year," he said.

 

"I'm raring to go, I wouldn't play if I couldn't play 100 per cent."