North Melbourne might have a fight on their hands to keep Majak Daw beyond this season but Brad Scott is adamant the ruckman still has a bright future at Arden Street.
Despite his undoubted natural athleticism and continued development, Daw has managed just 18 games in six seasons with the Kangaroos, with just two of those coming this year.
The rookie-listed ruckman-forward put in an eye-catching performance last week when he replaced injured lead ruck Todd Goldstein, leading to speculation rival clubs will look to lure the 25-year-old with the promise of greater playing opportunities.
"That's all fine, there will be speculation throughout the year, but we've got a lot of faith in Majak," Scott said.
"You don't have to look too deeply at our forwards, particularly their age, to see that there's going to be great opportunity here at North Melbourne for a long time."
Key forwards Drew Petrie and Jarrad Waite are both in the twilight of their careers at 33 years of age.
But Goldstein, a club best and fairest winner and All Australian, is only 27 and will be hard to unseat as the club's No.1 ruckman for some time to come.
Scott admitted he was still working out how best to use Daw.
"He's played some great footy in the ruck and he has kicked six goals as an AFL forward," he said.
"But he's played various other roles for us as well so we're still trying to work that out.
"It's about going through the options of what his best position is, what's his best position for the team and how does that fit around other players."
Daw was delisted by the Roos at the end of last season but rejoined the club via the rookie draft.