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The return of small forward Taylor Garner proved to be a big positive for North Melbourne in their 58-point thrashing of Carlton.

It's early days but North Melbourne's restored forward line could be a microcosm of an AFL side finally starting to find its mojo.

Sunday's 18.12 (120) to 8.14 (62) annihilation of Carlton at Marvel Stadium produced the Roos' first triple-figure score for the season, as well as a much-needed second win.

Much of the credit will rightly go to a Kangaroos midfield that smashed their Carlton opponents in the contests, particularly in a dominant first quarter.

But the Roos' forwards also held up their end of the bargain and while Cameron Zurhaar (five goals) and Ben Brown (four) were the headline acts, there was also plenty to like from Taylor Garner, Mason Wood, Kayne Turner and Jy Simpkin.

Having missed the entire 2018 season with soft-tissue injuries, Garner was particularly important in his return game with his creativity and pressure.

"He's a really important part of our forward structure when he's up and going," coach Brad Scott said.

"We've sent him all over the country to various specialists. When it's setback after setback after setback ... that's true resilience and I couldn't be more pleased for him.

"It's a huge risk playing him, I think, because we're always trying to be more conservative with his progressions but he's just so important to us.

"No doubt with Garner, Turner, Zurhaar, it's starting to look a bit more like what we'd like to get out there."

The Roos controlled every facet of Sunday's game but their contested work was enormous, starting with Jack Ziebell's run-with job on Patrick Cripps.

"We really were conscious that Patrick Cripps is the dominant midfielder in the competition at the moment so it was a huge challenge for Jack Ziebell, in particular," Scott said.

"We set him that task in combination with the other mids and that really went well for us early. From my observations, it looked like they had to try and adjust around that early.

"Nullifying Cripps obviously helps in the contest but it wasn't just one match-up. Most of our game looked better."