NORTH Melbourne looks set to welcome back forward Shaun Higgins against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday night as it scrambles to reintroduce a raft of senior regulars to its team ahead of the finals.

Higgins has not played since injuring his knee in North's round seven win over St Kilda but is expected to come straight back into the Roos' senior team after impressing on the training track in recent weeks.

Key forward Jarrad Waite could also return against the Giants, having made a quicker than expected recovery from minor hip surgery earlier this month. 

Defender Luke McDonald (hamstring) played his first game since round 13 in the VFL on Sunday, logging about 60 per cent game time, but North might be reluctant to bring him into the senior team off a six-day break.

Fellow defender Sam Wright (ankle) and run-with midfielder Ben Jacobs (foot) returned in the VFL a week earlier than McDonald, but missed Sunday's game against Footscray with soreness, so their senior return dates remain unclear. 

Higgins finished third in North's best and fairest in his first season at the club last year and shapes as a key player for the Roos this September with his sure foot skills. 

Scott has repeatedly said in recent weeks Higgins might not need to return in the VFL before earning a senior recall.

"He's a player who we think could potentially come straight back into the senior side because he's done a fair bit of work and he looks really good with his ball handling, kicking and skill work," the North coach said last week.

Scott was also optimistic last week Waite was on track to return against GWS.

"He's ahead of where we thought he'd be at this point. The way he's moving, we're pretty optimistic about next week," he said.

This weekend is the last chance North has to get game time into Higgins, Waite, Wright, Jacobs and McDonald ahead of September given its VFL affiliate Werribee's season ends on Sunday after it failed to make the finals.

North is also hopeful forwards Mason Wood (knee) and Kayne Turner (hamstring) will be fit for week one of the finals.

"All of these guys, we've got to stagger them back in and we've got some big decisions to make as to who we bring back in and when we bring them back in," Scott said last week.