North Melbourne have named ruckman Hamish McIntosh as an emergency in an intriguing selection twist for their must-win AFL clash against St Kilda.

There has been growing speculation this week about whether the Kangaroos would recall McIntosh for Saturday night's game.

He has not played at all this AFL season because of achilles tendon injuries, but has had a solid run of VFL games.

McIntosh stood out with his VFL form last weekend, suggesting he would be close to a recall.

North are one and a half games outside the top eight and must upset the Saints to stay in the finals hunt.

St Kilda assistant coach Adam Kingsley said McIntosh and current No.1 ruckman Todd Goldstein would prove a tough duo to counter.

"Goldstein has been in outstanding form, McIntosh you could argue would be No.1 ruckman in most teams," Kingsley said before team selection on Thursday.

"To have bona fide No.1 ruckmen sitting in their team is obviously a reasonable advantage for them."

While the Kangaroos are unchanged, St Kilda named their own No.2 ruckman Justin Koschitzke and key defender Zac Dawson for Tom Lynch and Steven Baker.

"He is an important player - I know he gets criticised a little bit ... but he's a really important player for our structure and a very competitive second ruckman," Kingsley said of Koschitzke.

"It's perhaps something we could have used last week."

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