With his achilles “stronger now than it’s ever been”, Andrew Swallow can’t wait to get the 2015 season underway.
It’s a feeling the North captain is set to enjoy for at least a few years to come, having put pen to paper on a new three-year deal which will keep him at the club until the end of 2018.
For Swallow, the decision was an easy one.
''The club wanted to get it done and I was happy to agree,'' Swallow told The Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson.
''It's an extra three years,
''I'm 28 this year which takes me to 30, 31 which I'm happy about.
''Part of my thinking is to get it done, and depending on how we're going, I'd be happy to pull the pin then, or if I'm still loving it, I'd keep going.''
Swallow said the chance to potentially earn more money elsewhere was never a consideration for him or those team-mates that have re-committed to the club.
''A lot of our guys aren't driven by money.
''Look at Toddy Goldstein, I would've thought other clubs would've chased him, but he loves North Melbourne. The blokes love the footy club.''
With any one of five or six players boasting legitimate claims as the club’s best player, the Kangaroos have one of the most even playing lists in the competition.
It makes for an exciting period at Arden Street over the next few years.
“We didn't have one player (in the All-Australian side) for a team which finished in the preliminary final,'' Swallow said.
''Boomer should have got in, no doubt, and maybe Toddy Goldstein, but maybe that's part of our strength as a group, the evenness.''
Swallow said the players will use the preliminary final loss as a driver in 2015.
''For me, I use the Swans game as motivational, like, that's where we've got to get to,'' he said.
''We were able to do it in the first two weeks of the finals, but we have to perform for all of the finals.
''We get so caught up winning week in week out during the season, and we high-five ourselves and slap our backs, but at the end of the day that doesn't matter. You have to win at the end of the season.
''That's what we learnt last year. This is what it's about.''
The improvements needed are obvious to the players and coaches at Arden Street.
After becoming known as one of the most exciting teams in the competition in 2013 with a fast-flowing brand of football, North tightened up defensively in 2014.
''It's just finding the balance,'' he said.
''We wanted to make sure we got back and defended our defensive 50 and we probably lost a bit of our attack.
''It comes back to the mindset of the players, wanting to be in positions to defend, but when we win the footy, we're off.''