Jeromey Webberley's Clarence side haven't played on their home deck in more than 600 days having been forced to camp at Richmond in 2020, during which time the Bombers have played in two deciders.

Both sides lost their season opener before impressive wins in round two and look set to play out a tight contest.

"It's going to be a really exciting game," North coach Brad Cox-Goodyer said.

"We've probably played the best team and then had a pretty convincing win against North Hobart with them having eight Devils out, so it'll be good to play a side around where we are, or potentially a bit further in their development.

"I'm going in expecting them to be the favourites ... they're always a pretty tough ask down there."

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North has made two changes, with defender-turned midfielder Jack Avent out and utility Tom Donnelly set to line up for North Melbourne in its VFL season opener against Geelong.

Donnelly's absence looks set to leave ruckman Alex Lee without a recognised back-up, but Cox-Goodyer wouldn't deny the 22-year-old his opportunity for a second.

"It's extremely exciting for him, he's done the work and for them to put faith in him and pick him in round one is very exciting," Cox-Goodyer said.

"I know Geelong are quite strong in the VFL so it's going to be great test - we're super happy for him."

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Six Bombers tasted senior victory for the first time last round and two more will get the chance against Clarence.

Young Devil Theo Ives has been named as North's eighth debutant of 2021, while Declen Chugg is back for a second game after both kicked two goals in last Saturday's development league win over North Hobart.

"I think their trajectories are all going the right way," Cox-Goodyer said of North's young brigade.

"Michael Stingel is going to quickly become a very good player - he's got great size, great speed and reads the game really well so he's very exciting.

"In saying that, the rest of the guys that have come in and played their first game throughout the first two games have shown great improvement already which is really exciting - I'd love to see what they can do with 10 games under their belt."

The Roos also have two big outs, with Colin Garland and Keegan Wylie replaced by experienced pair James Holmes and Jason Bailey.

Webberley said the Roos were keen to re-establish Bellerive as an unwelcoming destination for visiting sides.

"Richmond was great last year and we loved it - we couldn't thank Richmond footy club enough for helping us out, but it's nice to get back on our home ground," Webberley said.

"I thought Richmond really helped us last year - we made that a bit of a fortress for us and we're really keen to get back to Blundstone and do the same there.

"The last couple of years it has been a happy hunting place for opposition teams, so we're really excited this week to nail our first win at Blundstone and make it a fortress for us again."

The Roos got as close to North Launceston as any side in 2021, losing by just nine and 15 points in their two match-ups.

The Bombers lost some big names in the off-season with Taylor Whitford and Josh Ponting among those departing, but Webberley isn't be expecting any easier a contest.

"I thought the round one clash with Launceston was really interesting - North played some really good footy for large parts," he said.

"They let themselves down in the last quarter, but I thought it was a pretty close game for much of the game.

"They've still got a lot of top-end talent - I know they're blooding some younger kids through the senior team but we expect them to be right up there again this year."

CLARENCE v. NORTH LAUNCESTON

Round 3 - 17/04/2021

Bellerive Oval, 2pm

CLARENCE

NORTH LAUNCESTON