Young forward Lachie Hansen sent an injury scare through the North Melbourne camp as the Roos comfortably accounted for Greater Western Sydney by 73 points in an AFL practice match at Lavington Oval in Albury on Saturday night.

Hansen, who had booted two goals, left the field clutching his left shoulder at the 20-minute mark of the third quarter in the Roos' 18.15 (123) to 8.2 (50) victory.

Sam Wright starred for North Melbourne with four goals across half-forward while skipper Brent Harvey and the lightning-quick Matt Campbell were involved everything for the Roos.

Former Port Adelaide big man Jonathon Giles was the Giants' best player, outpointing Sudanese rookie Majak Daw and VFL recruit Cam Pedersen in the ruck.

North Melbourne went into the clash missing up to 12 players from their best side, including Andrew Swallow, Drew Petrie, Hamish McIntosh and Daniel Wells.

Roos coach Brad Scott played down Hansen's injury after the match, saying it was a precautionary measure to keep him off the field.

But he said the season could be over for another young Roo with fears Ayden Kennedy had torn his anterior cruciate ligament after starting the match promisingly with two goals.

"Lachie Hansen jarred his shoulder, which he seems to do every second week," Scott said.

"But it doesn't look good for Ayden."

It was the Roos' first win of the 2011 pre-season following losses to the Western Bulldogs, Geelong and Hawthorn.

North Melbourne started the match superbly, piling on six goals in the first quarter while keeping the Giants scoreless and when the Roos led by 68 points at half-time it appeared a formality the final margin would blow out to beyond 100.

Leading into the match, GWS coach Kevin Sheedy said all he wanted to see was improvement from the Giants following their 157-point hiding at the hands of Carlton in Canberra last week.

And Sheedy got his wish as the Giants showed plenty of fight in the second half, matching North Melbourne on the scoreboard and outscoring the Roos in the final term.

"I think the improvement continued tonight," Sheedy said.

"We wanted to kick as many goals as possible and we did that after half-time."

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