North Melbourne tall Callum Coleman-Jones is set to miss the remainder of the 2024 season after suffering an Achilles injury, with his setback potentially opening the door for a new Roos recruit to earn an AFL debut next week.
Coleman-Jones went down behind play while pushing for a lead in his side's attacking 50, with the ex-Tiger falling to the ground before holding his leg in pain. The 24-year-old was eventually taken from the field on a medi-cab.
The Achilles injury is the second of its kind to hit North Melbourne across their three matches to start the season, with young defender Josh Goater also set to miss the rest of the year following his Round 1 injury.
Coupled with recent setbacks to Cooper Harvey (ankle) and Miller Bergman (jaw) in the VFL, the Roos' casualty ward is again filing up after carrying a relatively healthy list into Round 1.
"We got to Round 1 with only a couple of guys on the injury list, and now we've had four pretty serious injuries in the last two or three weeks," coach Alastair Clarkson said post-game.
"That's a shame, but that's the game. At this part of the season in particular, it's really demanding on the players.
"You can't do much about it, that's the risk of playing the game."
Coleman-Jones' absence will see fringe tall Charlie Comben come into the frame for his first game since Round 7 last year, while Supplemental Selection Period addition Tyler Sellers will be in the mix for a debut due to his strong start to the year at VFL level.
Sellers booted six goals for the Roos' reserves last week and added a further three majors to his season tally on Friday in a win over Carlton's VFL side.
"He'll certainly come into consideration," Clarkson said of Sellers.
"His last couple of weeks have been really strong. We're probably in that mode where we've got to keep spinning some guys through there to see what will work for us.
"He'll be in contention I'm sure."
As for Friday's loss to Carlton, Clarkson revealed his frustrations with the level of turnovers his young midfield group conceded to the Blues.
Coming up against a "strong" engine room ensemble and a threatening one-two attacking punch in the form of Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, Clarkson said his midfield failed to support their backline with the frequency and ease of the Blues' forward 50 entries.
The Roos coach said his young core "lowered their colours" against the Blues to place his side's undersized defence under further pressure.
"We're going to need to get better in that space," Clarkson said on his side's inability to hold possession.
"When you've got your hands on the footy in congestion, your defenders aren't going to expect you just give it back so easily. We're playing against a very, very good side who have big strong bodies in the middle of the ground. Our young guys are having a crack in there.
"It's a pretty inexperienced midfield. They just lowered their colours to a really good side today.
"When you've got two guys forward of the footy like they have, who are such a strong presence for them, it's really difficult to try and contain their scoring power when they've got quick entry inside 50."
North Melbourne, who are still chasing their first win of 2024, will fellow 0-3 outfit Brisbane in South Australia next week for Gather Round.