Scott considers North forward line mix

While Andrew Swallow may not miss any football despite a knee knock, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott will change up his forward line with Robbie Nahas out.

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott will rejig his side's forward line this weekend against Brisbane but doesn't expect to move on the captain's armband.

Captain Andrew Swallow took to the training track on Wednesday after a knee scare late in the Kangaroos' win over Melbourne.

Scott said his heart skipped a beat when Swallow, who spent a year out of the game with an Achilles injury, went down.

However the club's immediate view of no long-term damage proved correct.

"The scans have come back and confirmed our early diagnosis that there's no structural damage, just a tiny little bit of swelling," Scott said.

"We'll look after him at training and expect him to play."

A serious shoulder injury to forward Robbie Nahas has precipitated the forward line re-think, and Scott is not short of options.

For talls, Majak Daw stands out after impressing in the VFL while Kieran Harper and Taylor Garner would be a like-for-like replacement.

Unthinkable just a few weeks ago, the Kangaroos are the only side to be naming a Brown this weekend.

With Lions legend Jonathan Brown announcing his retirement on Monday, Scott said rookie forward Ben Brown did enough on debut to retain his spot this weekend.

"We thought he was terrific ... he'll only get better from this point," Scott said of the 20-year-old Tasmanian.

Scott, who played with Jonathon Brown during the Lions' premiership era, said the retiring Lion was a "champion of the club and the game itself".

And while Scott "had his heart broken a couple of times" as an opposition coach, he is not keen for it to happen again as the Lions farewell him.

"I expect they'll want to farewell him in the right manner but we can't control that, we can only control our effort."

"Sadness is one way of looking at (his retirement) but I prefer to look at the glory days and his best footy.

"While Brisbane had a lot of stars through his era, we largely built a team around him."


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