North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has fired back at the "macho" critics of young gun Colby McKercher.
Drafted with pick two in 2023, the smooth-moving McKercher's lethal left foot has been key in the Kangaroos' steady improvement.
The 21-year-old was one of North's best in last week's loss against powerhouse Geelong, gathering 23 possessions, kicking two goals and having 10 score involvements.
But he was the only player on the ground not to have a contested possession, prompting criticism from the likes of Kane Cornes.
The ex-Port Adelaide champion has drawn the ire of North before, banned from the club's rooms when he went after Harry Sheezel last year.
"The really unusual part of this game is, if you had your choice, it would be everything uncontested - everyone wants the ball in space, and his role is mainly that," Clarkson said of McKercher.
"He knows at different stages he needs to be in the heat of the battle and competing inside. But it just becomes a macho thing, doesn't it.
"(Ruckman Tristan) Xerri doesn't have any uncontested possessions, are we having a crack at him last week for not running on the outside?
"That's not his role. We're happy that he's (McKercher) playing the role. He caused some damage to the Geelong side at different stages last week, and hopefully he's a threat for Sydney."
North, who have spent the last six seasons in the bottom three on the ladder, will get another test of how far they have come this year when they host the Swans at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
After pushing last year's grand finalists, the Brisbane Lions and Geelong, in recent weeks, ladder leaders Sydney travel to Melbourne without spearhead Charlie Curnow.
North haven't beaten the Swans since 2018, but will have added motivation to perform when they celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1996 grand final win over Sydney.
Clarkson has resisted the urge to bring in any premiership heroes for some motivating words.
"Where we are in our development, we need to just work on the internal stuff of what it takes to win games of footy, without needing any external motivation," Clarkson said.
"I'm sure somewhere in the crowd, there'll be that group of guys rooting for our boys to have a win and replicate what happened 30 years ago."
Clarkson played down any concerns about ace midfielder Luke Davies-Uniacke, who experienced hamstring tightness this week.
Davies-Uniacke took part in the captain's run at Arden St on Friday and has been named to face the Swans.
