NORTH Melbourne key defender Robbie Tarrant is expected to play against Gold Coast on Saturday, Roos coach Brad Scott says.
Another important Roo tall sent a scare through North's ranks on Thursday, with Drew Petrie leaving the track just minutes into the main training session, when he appeared to have his right knee assessed.
But Petrie returned to the track soon after and, after completing some run-throughs and agility work, rejoined North's main group.
When AFL.com.au left Arden Street, Petrie had resumed full training and did not appear restricted in his movements.
Tarrant injured his ankle in a marking contest in the first quarter of North's win over Fremantle last Sunday, but after receiving some treatment he returned to the field and played out the game.
Tarrant was not on the field at the start of North's training session on Thursday, but Scott told reporters he was confident the tall backman would be fit for Saturday's game at Gold Coast's Metricon Stadium.
A tale of loose Roos and tight Blues
"He should. He's got to get through a training session but all indications are good so far, so I doubt whether we'll make any changes," Scott said.
"[The medical staff] have been looking at very closely through the last few days in particular.
"We think it will be OK because when he rolled his ankle it would be more of a concern if he couldn't come back on the ground and it was really sore, but he played the second half and performed really well, so I would be surprised if he doesn't get up."
Tarrant shapes as a key player for North against the Suns given he will likely be earmarked for the job on Gold Coast spearhead Tom Lynch, who is the AFL's leading goalkicker after four rounds with 18 majors.
Scott said Lachlan Hansen would most likely replace Tarrant if he was ruled out.
North has a poor recent record against Gold Coast, having dropped their past three clashes, the most recent by 43 and 55 points.
Asked what North had found challenging about the Suns, Scott nominated their "exceptional talent", speed and youthful exuberance.
"They've presented a challenge for us, but we're a vastly a different team to the teams that have taken on Gold Coast in the past," the Roos coach said.
No Sun has been more challenging for Scott's men than Gary Ablett.
In the five games he has played against North as a Sun, Ablett has averaged 34.4 possessions and three goals.
Scott said the Roos would implement a couple of strategies to combat Ablett, having learned from some of their plans that had come unstuck in the past.
"We'll have multiple options for him as we did for someone like Nat Fyfe last week and we were pretty pleased with how that went, even though Fyfe was a pretty dominant player," Scott said.
North goes top after shaking off improved Dockers
Gold Coast will take an undermanned defence into Saturday's game with its two best key defenders, Steven May (suspended) and Rory Thompson (ankle), unavailable.
Scott downplayed suggestions that North's tall forwards Petrie, Jarrad Waite and Ben Brown would be able to exploit this, saying light-heartedly that Gold Coast had "a production line of first-round draft picks" who could cover for May and Thompson.
The Suns could recall Henry Schade or elevate mature-aged rookie Tom Keough to bolster their backline against North, while forward Sam Day could also be redeployed in defence.
