Oliver Tate, Lane Buckwell, Nick Hausler, James Keeble, Hayden Walters and Jacob Wheelahan (23rd man) all return to bolster a side that suffered a 124-point belting last week – including a 108-11 second half.

The Roosters will need to be as close to full strength as possible as it prepares for a Sandringham line-up that could boast up to 20 AFL-listed players.

St Kilda currently has only three players on its injury list, leaving North Ballarat with a sizeable task against its VFL affiliate.

Its main challenge will be quelling the Zebras tall timber. Tom Hickey (201cm), Patty McCartin (194cm), Jason Holmes (203cm) and former Rooster Rowan Marshall (201cm).

Coach Marc Greig said the height would be a concern, but the group simply had to focus on returning to its best football.

“We don’t have the height down back, so we’ve just got to have our good players on them,” Greig said.

“They’ll be a pretty strong team – bring your A game.”

Greig said the side had looked to address its defensive structures in order to better control opposition momentum.

“Our first halves have been okay by nearly everyone, but the second halves, most blokes have dropped off.

“We’ve done a bit more defensive work this week, so that we don’t get blown out of the water and can nullify them at times. There’s a few little things we’ve been working on, when the momentum is not with us...we need to be able to stem that and control the tempo.”

ROOSTERS midfield coach Nick Daffy has been named on the VFL state team coaching panel.