Keen-eyed North Melbourne fans will have noticed the return of a key figure to Kangaroos training sessions in recent weeks, with two-time Syd Barker Medallist Ben Cunnington slowly beginning to make his return to the club.

Cunnington has missed most of North's pre-season so far, during which he has undergone treatment and begun his recovery from a testicular tumour that was found towards the end of the 2021 campaign.

Jack Ziebell, who first took to the field with Cunnington in Round 5, 2010, said while it’s great to see his teammate around the club, there’s no pressure on an early return for the midfield general.

“The priority for him is just to enjoy life, be healthy and spend some time with his three beautiful kids. He’s missed that probably for the last few months over Christmas,” Ziebell said on Triple M.

"Hopefully we can see him in the last few months at the back end of the year but there’s absolutely no pressure from the club’s point of view, or from myself as a friend or a teammate. We just want to make sure he’s healthy and happy.

“He’s finished his treatment block and thankfully he’s starting to feel himself again.”

The club’s core of young players has been on show across the club’s two pre-season clashes, with the likes of draftees Jason Horne-Francis and Josh Goater impressing amongst North’s existing crop of young players.

As the list prepares to take on its second full season under David Noble, Ziebell said the side is keen to apply the lessons learned in 2021.

“‘Nobes’ has had a full summer now to instil a few more tricks to our game plan, and we’re trying to implement that with our young core of players coming through,” Ziebell said.

“I think we’ve done a hell of a lot of education with our young guys implementing our game plan.

“[Horne-Francis is] a very impressive 18-year-old kid, but he hasn’t played any AFL [football] yet.

“He’s got a real impatience to be the best he can be, and you can’t teach that in kids. You’re either born with it or you’re not, and thankfully he’s born with it."