North Melbourne's healthy list has made breaking into the club's VFL side difficult for Steve Stroobants - but with persistence, comes opportunity. 

Having not played since May, Stroobants' patience paid off last week, booting three goals against Frankston in a memorable return.

“I’ve been working on what I needed to work on to get myself a game,” he told told North Media.

“A few AFL guys came back (after his first game) and play in the same position as me, so I went back to local footy for a while.

“After a few weeks out, the call came on Friday [night] that I was playing against Frankston. I was originally an emergency until one of the younger guys pulled out.”

The reliable goal-scorer stormed out of the blocks against Frankston, working in tandem with fellow second-gamer Lachlan Mirams, combining for five goals in a dominant display before half-time.

Stroobants admits that the time away allowed him to work on the finer details of his game.

“My forward pressure is something that I’ve really been working on,” he explained.

“I’m a known goal-scorer and I can hit the scoreboard. I think it’s more about my pressure when the ball has hit the ground.”

North has one of the youngest lists in the competition, with midfield authority Nick Rippon often listed as the oldest player on game day at just 24. 

Given his age and experience at VFL level, 29-year-old Stroobants believes that having a healthy balance of senior players helps direct the Roos’ emerging youngsters.

“It definitely helps in some areas of the game,” Stroobants added.

“When the game is in the balance, you can set the guys up with your voice. Especially when the ball isn’t around, you can talk to the younger guys and show them where they need to be.

“I think it helps set the ground up during vital parts of the game, I like to think I’m young and hard anyway. Once you’re on the ground, it’s just a game of footy and age doesn’t really matter.

“You’ve just got to go about your business and try to share some knowledge that you’ve learnt over time to the younger guys.”

With Nick Larkey making his return after spending a week with North’s senior side as an emergency, most expected the Roos to rely heavily on its leading goal-scorer. That wasn't the case. 

“We can’t rely on Larks’ (Nick Larkey) and X (Tristan Xerri) to kick you three or four goals every week,” Stroobants explained.

“It doesn’t always happen that way, they’re going to get great defenders on them on a weekly basis. You need some other guys to be able to impact the scoreboard when needed.

“Frankston played Jake Batchelor on Larkey, who was on him pretty tight. He’s just come off Richmond’s AFL list and he knows how to play the game. Because of that pressure, Lachy and I were both able to pop up, being the second game of the year for both us.

“They (the opposition) probably didn’t know much about us, which would’ve helped.”

Stroobants is hopeful that his influence on last weekend’s lopsided win will earn him place in North’s forward six ahead of a crucial month of footy.

“I thought I contributed pretty well for the whole game,” he said.

“I’ve always known that I can play at this level, it’s just a matter of getting an opportunity in the positions that I can play good footy and to be able to contribute to the team.

“We’ve definitely got a tough few weeks ahead. If we can pinch three wins on our run home, we’ll be playing finals.

“It’s really in our hands.”

Fans are invited to attend Sunday’s VFL match against Collingwood at Avalon Airport Oval, with the first bounce at 1.00pm. Entry to home games is free for NMFC members.