North Melbourne's newly appointed co-vice captain Harry Sheezel says the time is now to begin the club's climb up the ladder.

Speaking to RSN before the Kangaroos hit the training track at Arden St Oval on Thursday morning, Sheezel said the team shared an urgent desire to improve in 2025.

"We want to be winning games of football, that’s what you want to do, you want to be playing in finals," Sheezel said.

"We're not going to put a limit or say a number of wins (we want to reach), we don't do that, we just want to be the best.

"We're going to push each other each day and continue to do that. We think we're going really well at the moment in pre-season, but we won’t know how we compare until games roll around against real opposition.

"We're really excited for that … we want to win some games of footy and climb the ladder as soon as possible."

Sheezel and his teammates were put through their paces in another match simulation on Thursday morning, which featured four 15-minute quarters.

The 'Pink' and 'Blue' teams locked horns, with players chopping and changing colours throughout the hitout as different matchups were trialled across the park.

Sheezel had an impact in midfield and at half-forward in the contest, and was his usual damaging self when given room to work with.

The 20-year-old says he’s likely to continue to play a versatile role in 2025 as a midfielder who spends some time at half-forward.

"Having the versatility to go back as well will help us," he said.

"We've got so many good, versatile players now that can play midfield, half-forward, at half-back and on the wings, so it's going to be interesting to see how we can get that balance.

"Our flexibility is going to be a real strength of ours this year."

One of those versatile players is Tom Powell, who tore the match sim apart from midfield. Attending a large percentage of the centre bounces, the No.24 continuously put himself in good spots to win the first possession, which he often did before finding an avenue out of congestion.

He battled recruit Luke Parker for a period, who's defensive awareness and ability to push out a clearance was elite. The veteran capped off the session with a dead-eye strike at goal from distance.

Nick Larkey and Paul Curtis were busy around goals, with Larkey putting through a handful of majors. Curtis converted well, applied pressure and dazzled with a sidestep and a dribbled through ball to Cooper Harvey who made sure the assist would count on the scoreboard.

Bailey Scott’s workrate and Jy Simpkin’s footwork in tight situations stood out, while Luke Davies-Uniacke's elusiveness was on show.

On limited minutes, Josh Goater made the most of one of his first touches, nailing a lace-out ball to a leading Brynn Teakle on the wing.

Cam Zurhaar saw some time on the ball, while Eddie Ford pushed onto a wing throughout stages of the morning and showcased his vision when working forward with an unselfish, inboard kick to Larkey and a pinpoint delivery to Zurhaar which both led to goals.

Toby Pink featured at both ends of the field and made a goal-saving tackle in the opening quarter, while Finnbar Maley also split his time as a key back and forward, clunking several big grabs in both roles.

Some stout defensive work from Will Phillips in the guts saw the onballer win back possession a couple of times, while his occasional bursts out the front of stoppages added to his strong performance overall.

Riley Hardeman and Taylor Goad both finished well as they look to continue their growth in their second seasons as Kangaroos. Hardeman's attack on the ball was unwavering as Goad notched some marks on the lead and booted a goal.

On limited minutes: Josh Goater, Caleb Daniel, Zane Duursma, Geordie Payne, Zac Fisher, Jacob Konstanty

Didn't participate: Finn O'Sullivan, Matt Whitlock, River Stevens, Luke Urquhart, Griffin Logue, Aidan Corr, Darcy Tucker, Wil Dawson, Callum Coleman-Jones, Jackson Archer, Brayden George