Luke Davies-Uniacke Biography

Alastair Clarkson believes Luke Davies-Uniacke will stay at North Melbourne, but remains cautious due to his previous experience with Lance Franklin's free agency departure.

"It's not the end of the world. We're not going to get caught up in this," Clarkson said.

"We want to do everything we can to retain Luke's services, but if he takes up the option of moving to another club then we'll just take whatever compensation we can get and move on."

North Melbourne offers Luke Davies-Uniacke a seven-year deal worth between $8-9 million, the biggest deal in the club's history, and the midfielder will have to decide if he wants to commit to the club or explore other options as a free agent.

Jy Simpkin wins North Melbourne best and fairest for a second time.

Simpkin polled a total of 130 votes to mark another impressive year, finishing well clear of Davies-Uniacke (108 votes) in second. Bailey Scott (98 votes) rounded out the top three.

Luke Davies-Uniacke will make his return from injury when he plays in North Melbourne's scratch match against Essendon this week.

Scans post-Christmas had revealed Davies-Uniacke was dealing with pubic overload and bone bruising, which had zapped his acceleration. The pain, which he initially brushed off as tightness, became too much and it felt like he was being stabbed in his groin when he tried to run.

"Speaking to the rehab coaches, it looks like I'll be playing some minutes this weekend, which will be bloody fantastic, because I've been really toey to get out there," Davies-Uniacke said.

"It's been about six months that the groin's put me out. If it wasn't for the break during the 'iso' period, then I probably would have went a bit crazy."

Luke Davies-Uniacke is without a return date and will not run for several weeks as he deals with an ongoing groin problem.

"It's extremely disappointing, because fitness-wise he was setting himself up for a big year," Kangaroos football boss Brady Rawlings said.

"We all know what 'LDU' is capable of, so we'll put him in a rehabilitation program to build him back up to full strength when the time is right."

Aiden Bonar has moved in with close friend and fellow Roo Luke Davies-Uniacke in their Elwood pad.

They played together at NAB League team Dandenong Stingrays and were both on scholarships at Haileybury College's Keysborough campus and represented the school in football.

"We're genuine best mates – we do most things together. I don't surf with him, because I can't swim," Bonar said, laughing.

"We met up most weekends when I was back here, so it's great to move in with him. It's just us two, so we have a nice little joint there."

Luke Davies-Uniacke faces a delayed start to pre-season training this summer, with the midfielder forced to undergo a shoulder reconstruction thereby ruling him out for the rest of 2019.

"It’s something that we’ve been well aware of, but we’ve been able to navigate him through up until now," North Melbourne footy boss Cam Joyce said.

"Luke had an incident earlier in the season when he fended off an opponent and he did some damage to his right shoulder.

"The discussions about putting him in for an operation have been ongoing and with a potential four-month recovery, now is the right time to allow him to have as much of the pre-season as possible to prepare for a big 2020."

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says Luke Davies-Uniacke is ready to make an impact at senior level in 2019.

"When you come into the AFL as a genuine inside midfielder, you're still a boy against men," Scott explained.

"So I think that has been the challenge for him and one that can only be solved through time and opportunity.

"Luke through the pre-season has started to show a lot more of the signs and the passages of play that we saw from him as a junior."

Luke Davies-Uniacke makes his AFL debut for North Melbourne with 8 disposals (3 kicks and 5 handballs) and 2 tackles in a 16-point loss to Gold Coast.

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott confirms that Luke Davies-Uniacke will make his debut in the Kangaroos' 2018 season opener against Gold Coast.

"We understand he's an 18-year-old playing his first game of footy, so he's picked himself in terms of his performance, but we've got to be very careful not to put too high an expectation on Luke too early," Scott said.

"Some of the best midfielders of all time have taken a couple of years to find their feet at AFL level. Based purely on performance, he's done enough to be picked."

North Melbourne has moved quickly to secure prized recruit Luke Davies-Uniacke, re-signing the 2017 No.4 draft pick until the end of 2021.

"I’m rapt. I’m absolutely stoked. I’ve loved every minute at North and I can’t wait to see what the future holds," Davies-Uniacke said.

"I’ve now got to put my head down and try and cement a spot in the side."

Luke Davies-Uniacke appears ready to step straight into North Melbourne's round one team, but coach Brad Scott says the Kangaroos have to be careful not to place unrealistic expectations on the prized recruit.

"Look at him you would think he was ready but it takes a very, very rare player to go in and play right from the start," Scott said.

"I'm really conscious that he's 18. We would love Luke to push in and play a fair amount of footy for us this year but that will largely depend on the availability of our list and how Luke's handling the expectation.

"I think we've got to be careful with the expectation that we put on him."