North Melbourne continued Melbourne's barren start to the season, beating the Demons by 48 points in their AFL match at the MCG.

The Kangaroos won 18.19 (127) to 11.13 (79), but look set to be without key defender Josh Gibson for an extended period after he was helped off with a knee injury in the third term.

Nathan Thompson kicked five goals and onballer Brent Harvey had 26 possessions in the lopsided contest.

One bright spot for Melbourne was an outstanding game from midfielder Aaron Davey, who had easily his best performance of the season so far.

Davey had 20 possessions and kicked two goals.

North started the game with seven behinds and did not kick their first goal until 19 minutes into the opening quarter.

But they quickly kicked another three to Melbourne's one for a lead of 26 points at the first change.

Melbourne defender Jared Rivers appeared to go on report during the first term for a late challenge on Daniel Pratt.

The Kangaroos built their lead to 45 points early in the second quarter before the Demons made a small rally, reducing the margin to five goals.

But North led by 36 points at the main break and were never put under serious pressure.

Kangaroos small forward Lindsay Thomas also hurt his ankle during the second term, but returned to the field in the second half.

While North easily scored their second win of the season, they will be disappointed with the crowd of 23,427.

Kangaroos officials had wanted an attendance of at least 30,000.

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