Emerging Kangaroo Jy Simpkin could have reasonably expected some backslaps this week for his mid-season transformation into a midfield beast. 

After piercing the 20-disposal barrier just four times in his first 40 games and being dropped ahead of round six, the 21-year-old – a first-round draft pick in 2016 – has responded in emphatic fashion.

Simpkin has had six further 20-plus-possession matches in his past nine senior appearances, including back-to-back career highs of 30 then 36 against Collingwood and St Kilda in the last fortnight.

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However, the tone was different on Tuesday.

There were deserved plaudits for the kid from Mooroopna, about 180km north of Melbourne, but Simpkin's coaches had a message: 'that's your standard now'.

"We challenged him that playing a couple of good games is not good enough – he needs to continue this form for the rest of the year," North Melbourne's midfield coach Jarred Moore told AFL.com.au.

"So we're hoping to see that from him.

"As a young fella coming into the game, it's a hard game – there are always ups and downs – but with the effort he puts in you'd hope he's over that hurdle, but it's a tough one to answer."

JY SIMPKIN'S 2019 RISE

* Average disposals

^ Average clearances 

Simpkin's emergence seemed to happen overnight, but Moore and company saw it coming as the third-year rising star blossomed before their eyes in the pre-season and intraclub games.

There were "exceptional" glimpses previously in his play, mostly as a forward, but his added running power – now free from the nagging leg injuries that had plagued him – was what really caught the eye.

Then something went wrong.

Simpkin struggled through the JLT Community Series, became over-reliant on handball and looked a shadow of the player the coaches at Arden St expected was about to surface.

"You could see he was getting frustrated with himself (before he was demoted to the VFL), and we wanted to give him some confidence and for him just to get his hands on the footy a bit," Moore said.

"The way he attacked all that in the VFL; we sent him straight back in the AFL with some form behind him, and we've had some good results since then.

"That was probably a bit of a turning point for him this year."One thing for certain is none of Simpkin's issues were ever related to a lack of effort.

In fact, coaches regularly have to drag him off the training track to start his recovery, while his diligence in watching his individual game edits and looking for ways to improve is held in high regard at North.

"He's always, and especially over the last month or so, done his vision with me, then he used to have (Darren) Crocker in the midfield as well," Moore said.

"Then he'd watch (Ben) Cunnington's vision and Shauny Higgins' vision, and try and pick up things from them.

"Higgins has been sitting in with him the last few weeks while he's been injured and is throwing in little tidbits here and there.

"He's always trying to improve, and that's all we can ask as coaches."