NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott has confirmed there are a few butterflies at the club, as he and last year's No.21 draft pick Ryan Bastinac prepare to make their debuts on the AFL's big stage.

The Kangaroos meet Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Sunday with Scott anxious to coach his first game for premiership points, and the club excited to see Bastinac emerge from his impressive pre-season.

"He's been picked on form," Scott said before training at Arden Street on Thursday.

"He's come in and been exceptional in all his training and in the games he's played so far, so we're really excited for Ryan and he is too."

While Bastinac's inclusion is certain there could yet be more debutants.

Drew Petrie's suspension and foot injury means Scott is searching for more forward options, with untried 2007 draftee Robbie Tarrant, Josh Smith and Aaron Edwards among those in consideration.

Whichever way Scott elects to go, he is confident he has the firepower to kick a big enough score despite not having his vice-captain in the early rounds.

"I think we've got some talent up there, there's no doubt about that," he said. "The loss of Drew will hurt us from round three until he's available again but … we think we've got a very flexible forward line.

"We can go quite tall or quite small and we've got the Aaron Edwards [and] Corey Jones types who are in between. We've got a lot of options [and] we've just got to work out what the best mix is to beat Port Adelaide."

North will find out later this week how long Petrie will be sidelined for, though it is likely to extend beyond his two-week ban.

"He will see a surgeon today," Scott said.

"He's had scans [which] confirmed he's got a broken foot so the surgeon will advise what the next course of action is from here."

Port Adelaide presents a strong challenge for North, not only through its good form during the pre-season, but with its coaching staff also having the Kangaroos' former mentor Dean Laidley.

However, Scott doesn't believe the Power will have any great advantage, despite Laidley having significant knowledge of his list.

"He'll be acutely aware of the intricacies of those players and what they can do and what they can't do, but he'll have very little idea as to the way we play football. Mark Williams won't have seen a lot of us either," he said.

"What Dean will be able to provide Port will be purely around certain individual players but … I don't think there's too much we should be worried about there."

North won just one of its six games interstate last year and Scott, who crossed from Collingwood - one of the competition's best travelling sides - doesn't think this trip west should hold any fears.

"We'll train here Saturday morning, we'll fly across Saturday, get the job done Sunday and come straight home," he said.

"The travel factor's a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. We've got very professional players. This trip's no longer than a trip to Ballarat."