Every player on North Melbourne’s list has forged their own path to Arden Street, but Hugh Greenwood's features more twists and turns than most.

Greenwood had been contracted at Gold Coast for the 2022 season, but when the Suns delisted him to create more flexibility with their draft hand, North saw an opportunity to acquire the experienced midfield bull and pounced.

Greenwood credits senior coach David Noble with convincing him to make the move.

“Nobes and I have a great history and he was one of the two guys who believed I could transition back from basketball to footy in the first place,” Greenwood told North Media in an interview presented by ELMO Software.

“We’ve tried to work together many times over the years. When I got to Adelaide he took off to Brissy, when I came out of contract at Adelaide he was in Brisbane trying to get me up there, but it didn’t quite work out.

“One thing led to another and it all went down … hopefully in time I’ll know if I made the right decision or not. It’s been three weeks and I definitely feel like I have.”

A Tasmanian native, Greenwood left his home state to pursue his basketball dream in New Mexico before returning to football.

While he has played in his home state before - he lined up against North for the Suns in last season’s Round 15 clash, he has never consistently been able to play football in front of his close friends and family in the Apple Isle.

The Kangaroos are scheduled to play four home games in Hobart in 2022, and Greenwood can’t wait to run out in the royal blue and white stripes at Blundstone Arena.

“I’m a pretty proud Tasmanian, I don't shy away from that … when I made a pros and cons list, playing in Hobart was well at the top,” he said.

“I played the game last year for the Suns against North at Blundstone. It was almost like a dream to play on the ground you grew up playing on in front of friends and family.

“I moved away from Hobart when I was 15, so I hadn’t played in front of friends and family like that.”

Aside from his close relationship with David Noble, there are a few familiar faces around Arden Street for Greenwood, who has played with development coach Tom Lynch and worked under forwards coach Heath Younie at the Crows.

He also says doing battle with some of North’s veterans has made him aware of the quality they bring to the table.

"Every first day of pre-season you’re always nervous, but when you come to a new club there are all different emotions … the opportunity to meet 40 new blokes, learn all their names, learn all their nicknames, is daunting and it’s a bit surreal,” Greenwood said.

"I’ve always had this mutual duel and battle with 'Cunners' (Ben Cunnington). Whenever we played together I’d always have a job on him. We’d always go pretty hard at one another and shake hands at the end of the game,” he said.

"I’ve played with some really talented rucks in my time. I've been very fortunate to play with ‘Sauce’ Jacobs and Jarrod Witts, so to be able to play with Goldy (Todd Goldstein) instead of trying to shark his hits is exciting. We always laughed about that after games.

"My role is pretty simple and wherever I’ve gone I’ve had the same role. I’m clearly a battler. What I do is have a crack and normally the results take care of themselves.

"To come in here with a really young engine room and exciting midfield group, to be able to take the load off of them and the pressure off of them is why I’m here … I'm going to be helping this young midfield group get to where they want to get to."

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