AFL North West: Tamworth Kangaroos welcome back Elliot Bowen for match-up with Gunnedah Bulldogs

Richie O'Halloran will make his debut for the club after being named on the bench for the clash at No.1 Oval.

The Tamworth-based lawyer has swapped the Gilbert for the Sherrin, joining the Roos from Pirates and has quickly made an impression on coach Richard Nicholl.

"He's clearly a thinker," Nicholl said.

"He's been to training for a couple of weeks and he asks questions, which is what you want."

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The Roos are back on the field after their clash with Inverell last week was postponed due to Varley Oval being closed.

While disappointing not to play, Nicholl said they took advantage of "an opportunity to look at the opposition", heading down to watch the Swans, who they are due to play next round, beat the New England Nomads.

They are without "a few experienced players" "for various reasons" for Saturday but Nicholl is "still confident of putting on a good performance".

Bowen will be a big inclusion after missing their first two games.

"He's our gun full forward. We're looking forward to him being back," he said.

The Roos' best and fairest in his debut season, at six-foot-six, he is "a big target" and, he said, "adds a lot to our forward line".

Two-from-two after wins over the combined Moree/Narrabri side and then the Nomads, they didn't have it all their own way against the Nomads, and Nicholl said there were a few things they identified they need to work on, chiefly their leading patterns and kicking.

"We'd been working on that at training but just fell into old habits," he said.

"I'm looking forward to against Gunnedah trying to bring that into more practice."

In the other games the Swans travel out to Narrabri while the Nomads host the Saints.

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