A disappointing finals series will be the catalyst for improvement for young forward Ben Brown.

In just his second year in the AFL, Brown managed to play 22 games in 2015, but by his own admission, struggled in September.

“I had a couple of almost games, where I wasn’t quite grabbing my marks and dropped a couple at crucial stages, so that’s something I have to learn from and let that drive me,” Brown told NMFC.com.au.

Now with an impressive 33 games to his name after his two seasons at Arden St, Brown is determined to only get better.

“I came to the club with an open mind about how well I’d go. I said from the start that I wanted to give everything I could. I didn’t know where that would take me,” the 22-year-old said.

“I can’t stop now, I’ve got to keep going. I’m a competitive person and I’m going to keep on pushing myself.

“Next year is going to be really important for me and I’m looking to take a big step forward in a number of areas, especially over the pre-season.”

After being overlooked for the season-opener against the Crows, Brown said he was pleased he was able to play consistently once he broke into the side.

“I feel like I fought my way into the team and managed to keep it reasonably well.

“I just wanted to put my name forward repeatedly, and I felt like I did that, even though I had a couple of hurdles to cross during the year.”

Brown believes playing week-in, week-out with North’s two key forwards, Jarrad Waite and Drew Petrie, had helped improve his own game.

“I was pretty happy with the way I fitted in with Drew and ‘Waitey’ and the other forwards.

“’Waitey’ came in with a great attitude and Drew has always got a fantastic attitude. It did take a little while to get used to how each player plays, but they were really pretty easy to fit in with at the end of the day.”

The focus for Brown, who was named the Roos' Young Player of the Year, is now getting a full pre-season campaign under his belt, something he has yet to achieve with various injuries forcing a delayed start in both 2014 and 2015.

“In the pre-season I had the medial ligament surgery at the end of last year to fix up my knee. I suppose it put me a little bit behind the eight ball with the other guys in the team,” Brown said.

“I still haven’t done a 2km (time trial) since I got to the club, so I’m pretty keen for this pre-season.”