INJURED North Melbourne forward Ben Brown is running out of time to prove his fitness for round one, conceding his chances of playing in the JLT Community Series are "up in the air".

Brown is yet to line-up in the pre-season competition as he continues to recover from the knee surgery he had in January. Meanwhile, fellow talls Majak Daw, Todd Goldstein and Braydon Preuss played in the Roos' impressive win over the Hawks, with the latter bagging three goals.

North also has to find room for veteran forward Jarrad Waite who played in the club's first hit-out against the Swans.

Preuss presses claim for season opener

Brown went under the knife for what was described by the club as a "wash-out procedure" but the 24-year-old may not be fit for the pre-season clash against Greater Western Sydney on Friday, March 10.

"[The GWS game is] a bit up in the air at the moment," Brown told Fox Sports on Monday.

"The doctors are still working through whether I can get up for that game but I'm aiming for it and I'm doing as much as I can in my rehab work.

"My running's going really well and the main thing for me is my body's feeling really good, so when I do get up to play, I should feel 100 per cent ready to go."

The Kangaroos are set to be without forward Mason Wood (hamstring) and tagger Ben Jacobs (foot) for up to eight weeks, after both were hurt at training last Friday.