MELBOURNE defender Daniel Turner has been sent to hospital for scans on his ribs, dampening the Demons' 16-point win over North Melbourne.

Turner copped two accidental hits to his right ribs from teammates in the Demons' 13.14 (92) to 11.10 (76) win at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

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Turner was taken by ambulance to hospital after copping a knock to the ribs in a "friendly fire'' collision with fellow Demon Jake Lever in the opening term, then being hit again in the same area by another teammate, Matthew Jefferson, in the third.

"The poor bugger copped a couple of big knocks and just couldn't get out of harm's way there for a bit,'' Melbourne coach Steven King said after the match.

"Brave player the way he plays - he's unconditional with the way he goes about it.

"He came back on, then got in the wrong place at the wrong time and copped another one. Hopefully he's OK."

Changkuoth Jiath was also unable to complete the match, pulling up lame early in the fourth term with what King described as a "lower leg" injury.

The two blows took some of the gloss off the Demons' impressive fightback after they had trailed by 25 points in the opening term.

"After quarter-time, (being) a couple of soldiers down, we were able to grind it out and find a way to win," King said.

The Kangaroos burst out of the blocks with three goals in the first six minutes, but Melbourne booted six unanswered goals either side of half-time to take a 15-point lead.

The margin blew out to 36 points in the final term, before the Kangaroos scored the last three goals.

"There's enough positive signs with our group that they're competing a lot better," Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson said.

"But with a bit more experience and a bit more smarts with the ball in hand, we might be able to punish sides a little bit more than we did today."