[RELATED: Ziebell training update]
North Melbourne will be armed with a more balanced midfield mix as it strives to improve on last year's disappointing preliminary final exit, vice-captain Jack Ziebell believes.
The Roos swapped some outside dash for inside grunt when they snared free agent Shaun Higgins and reluctantly parted ways with Levi Greenwood during the NAB AFL Trade Period.
Higgins is set to ease the reliance on veterans Brent Harvey, Daniel Wells and Nick Dal Santo for class in 2015 and Ziebell told AFL.com.au the Roos' on-ball brigade boasted a promising blend for next season.
"I think so. Guys like Daniel Wells, Brent Harvey, Nick Dal Santo, Shaun Higgins – they've all got elite skills," Ziebell said.
"You compliment them with guys like Ben Cunnington, Andrew Swallow, myself and Ryan Bastinac, we've got a pretty good mix of inside and outside ball winners and a pretty deep midfield as well.
"Hopefully that can hold is in good stead next (season) and we'll see where it takes us."
Following nine seasons and 129 games at the Whitten Oval, Higgins has wasted little time settling in at Arden Street.
"Higgo's a quality player. He's fitted in really well around the group and I think he's really made an impact on the training track as well with the way he's gone about it," Ziebell said.
"He fits in with the drills, really trains hard and has got elite skills."
Ziebell has also impressed on the training track, despite a restricted pre-season program due to post-season shoulder surgery.
North's high performance director Steve Saunders told AFL.com.au last week the tough on-baller was moving "better than we've ever seen him move before".
The 24-year-old completed a block of running at training on Tuesday as the squad was welcomed back from the Australia Day long weekend with a light running and skills session.
He also laid some light tackles as part of his rehabilitation from post-season shoulder surgery.
“(Contact work) has been building up … the last couple of weeks, but it's nice to be able to get back and get a bit of confidence back in your shoulder and make sure that it's right to go when you do get the nod to get back into training," Ziebell said.
"(Fitness is) something I've had to work on and improve a lot this pre-season. So I'm thankful for that, but I'm really, really looking forward to getting stuck into the game-sense stuff (in the coming weeks) and when the NAB Challenge rolls around."
The Roos spent about an hour on the training track in cool and blustery conditions and progress was clear for the likes of Ziebell, recuperating sharpshooter Lindsay Thomas, plus key forwards Ben Brown and Majak Daw.
Thomas (plantar fascia) stretched out at a good pace during straight-line running drills and later kicked for goal, as did Brown (knee) and Daw (dislocated foot) after they earlier completed sharp lateral movement drills.
After training, Ziebell and Drew Petrie presented 30 of Australia's newest citizens with North Melbourne memberships at the club's annual citizenship ceremony at Arden Street – held in partnership with The Huddle, the club's community and education arm, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
"That was the first citizenship ceremony I've been to, so it was pretty exciting to see the look on the 30 new Australian citizens' faces after they've just become part of the country," Ziebell said.
