With Bart McCulloch, Will Edmunds and Tom Donnelly all in good form, the Northern Bombers have thrown Devil Jackson Callow in the mix as one of three changes.

Gun defender Arion Richter-Salter and Oliver Sanders have also returned, with Dakota Bannister (suspended), Rhyan Mansell (rested) and Will Haley making way.

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With Callow making plenty of headlines in the NAB League, Edmunds has quietly gone about cementing his spot in North's forward line since returning from university studies in Victoria.

The former Launceston Blue has played six of the past eight games since debuting against his old club and has earned the nickname 'Buckets' in the process.

"He's got massive hands," coach Taylor Whitford explained.

"I was talking to him during the week and previously with his feedback, he hasn't actually played a bad game for us yet, he's always in the contest and his effort is really high continually.

"He's a great aerial mark and he's been finishing goals really well so he's been a really good addition to our side and something we probably didn't have.

"We've got obviously Bart and Jackson who are the bigger, taller targets, but Bill gives us something a little bit different in and around our forward group where he's able to get up at the footy, and he's quite agile when the ball hits the ground as well."

ELSEWHERE IN SPORT

Invermay Park will host TSL for the first time in two years on Saturday due to UTAS Stadium's surface redevelopment.

That 2017 fixture saw North win by 19 points over a Devonport side featuring Bombers goalsneak Sherrin Egger, who was among the Pies' best with Blues Mitch Thorp and Dylan Riley.

Whitford said the ground was in great nick, but would play much differently to the one next door.

"The surface is great, the dimensions are pretty different, they're a lot smaller than UTAS," Whitford said.

"It could go either way - it could be really high-scoring where teams are just getting it in there and kicking scores or vice versa where you can't find space and it's difficult to score.

"I don't think it's going to be really high-scoring but I'd love it to be."

The two sides have played out contrasting matches this season, with North Hobart coming within 11 points of an upset in round seven before losing 15.16 (106) to 2.3 (15) in round 12.

The results continued an odd trend which has seen the two sides separated by two goals or less on four occasions since 2015, but three times by 130 points or more.

The presence of round 12 absentees Colin Garland, Sam Darley and Bailey Walker should help North Hobart keep Saturday's margin near the former category.

Whitford said the pattern told a story of an inexperienced North Hobart side trying to find its feet.

"If you give that sort of side a bit of a sniff they can hang around most of the game," he said.

"But if you're able to get three or four goals out they might drop their heads a little bit and the game can open up, so it probably reflects a bit where both sides have been."

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