Cam Zurhaar is hell-bent on making a name for himself off the back of his physicality and attack on the ball.

Stats have become less of a focus for the North rookie, with more effort going into his pressure acts and one-percenters.

“I’ve been putting a big emphasis on making sure my opponent knows I’m present around the footy through my forward pressure and physicality," he said. 

“That physicality is massive for me, and I think that’s why I get a game. It comes naturally to me, but I want to improve on it every single week to become a real force in the forward-line and bring all the pressure I can.

“Pressure’s obviously a big thing for me, so I just want to get as many pressure acts as possible, but also get on the scoreboard.

“Stats such as pressure acts help us measure that. I try and get as many of those as possible, but then if I’m not doing that, hopefully I’m getting goals and assists.”

While he was arguably one of North’s best in Round 5, the number 44 didn’t quite see it the same way.

“I probably need to lift,” Zurhaar admitted.

“Every week there’s always room for improvement.

“I had a pretty good pressure game in my first game back, but my match last week wasn’t too crash-hot.

“I managed to get on the scoreboard however, and get a few more touches than normal.”

The hard-nosed Roo finished the game with 14 disposals and 6 marks, which came from spending a relatively large amount of time in the middle of the ground.

In similar fashion to last season, North has used Zurhaar in the ruck at times in a bid to relieve Todd Goldstein.

“I was playing ruck a little bit so I managed to get up the ground and be on the end of those hit-up kicks,” he said.

“I managed to be a bit of link through the midfield into the forward 50 which was good.

“If playing ruck gets me a game, then I’m happy to play it.

“If I don’t win the tap, which is likely, I’m going to put more pressure on as another midfielder.”