HEARTENING is one word to describe North Melbourne's intra-club scratch match at Arden Street on Thursday afternoon.

Physical is another.

As vice-captain Drew Petrie said: "There's no holds barred. You don't want to knock anyone out, but you definitely don't hold back if someone's got their head over the footy."

With only a handful of players absent, two strong sides in respective red and blue guernseys locked horns over three 20-minute periods.

Summer slog was put to the test, with the few hundred spectators treated to fierce tackling, strong marking, clean disposal and some eye-catching performances.

One of those came late in the piece as forward Aaron Edwards kicked four goals, three from contested marks when high balls were sent inside 50.

It would have pained his coaches and teammates as much as supporters knowing that Edwards can't be selected for the NAB Cup competition or the first four rounds of the home and away season because of a club-imposed suspension.

The 24-year-old was well held by Josh Gibson for the first two terms, but dominated his contests with Shannon Watt, who otherwise had a solid afternoon breaking from half-back.

"He's got some ability and we missed him last year when he missed 13 or 14 games with that leg injury," assistant coach Daniel Daly said of Edwards after the game. "He was very good today."

The swirly conditions made it largely difficult for forwards – just 10 goals were kicked for the game – with the midfielders struggling to find targets David Hale and Josh Smith.

Hale and Smith both spent some time on the ball, but only to relieve first-choice ruckman Hamish McIntosh and understudy Todd Goldstein from an intriguing battle.

Those players covered the ground well, pushing through the early strain that came with the warm conditions.

Match-ups at their feet pitted stalwarts Brent Harvey, Brady Rawlings and Adam Simpson against Daniel Harris, Sam Power and Daniel Wells, with the honours tipping the way of the latter.

Liam Anthony, who joined the club from East Fremantle in November, was another stand-out for the red side – collecting over 20 touches and showing the traits of a player ready for the next level.

However, a one-handed mark to Jack Ziebell early in the game drew the strongest reaction from the crowd, and his efforts from then were promising.

There was obvious support for Jesse Smith too, after ankle and hamstring injuries kept him to just two games last year. He started this hit-out strongly, playing mostly from half-back, but like many of his teammates lost a margin of intensity as the game wore on.

"He hasn't played much footy in the last 12 months so he's been raring to go for the last three months," Daly added. "He showed today that he's going to be really important for this footy club."

Michael Firrito found himself at half-forward at stages, kicking the first goal of the game, while Lachlan Hansen spent most of the afternoon at centre half-back.

The enviable fitness of North's squad was endorsed by Daniel Pratt, Ed Lower and Simpson, who were in no way limited by their post-season shoulder operations.

Robbie Tarrant (shoulder) watched from the sidelines, with coach Dean Laidley revealing that he's only three weeks from playing. Leigh Adams and Irish recruit Conor Meredith also looked on.

Matt Campbell, Lindsay Thomas, Warren Benjamin and Cruize Garlett are in Darwin for the Indigenous All-Stars' game against Adelaide.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.