Free agency acquisitions Shaun Higgins and Jarrad Waite have added a different dimension to North's forward stocks in the first half of the season.

Higgins and fellow livewire Lindsay Thomas lead the Roos' goalkicking tally with 22 apiece at the midway point, with Waite not far behind on 19 majors.

NMFC.com.au caught up with forwards coach Shane Watson to chat about how the forward line has functioned so far this year.

Ben Brown
10 senior games, 16 goals

"'Browny' has been a touch inconsistent, but in terms of his eventual output he's still getting more than a goal a week.

"He's had a couple of good games and he's had a couple of quieter games. He's been subbed a couple of times but that's been more for forward structure than the fact that he wasn't going that well.

"For 200cm, he actually moves quite well, he can get off his opponent and when he plays well, his marking is his feature."

Brent Harvey
12 senior games, eight goals

"He spent the first quarter of the season down back and the last month he's gone forward – he's just a good player. When the game's on the line, he puts himself in the play and he's smart.

"He was quite good down back; it gave opposition teams something to worry about if he was playing on someone or if he was a spare back there.

"At his age, he still gets the best small defender in attack and his level of performance week to week is to a high standard."

Shaun Higgins
12 senior games, 22 goals

"Higgins is our most consistent forward and, along with Goldstein, he is the most consistent player.

"He's made a real impact coming from the Western Bulldogs and it was certainly a great decision to get him across up until this point.

"He's kicking goals, he's fitted in, he works hard, runs hard and he's really diligent around the place."

Robin Nahas
11 senior games, 17 goals

"Robin came into the side after being elevated from the rookie list more for his forward pressure and tackling. He's been doing that but he's been able to kick goals as well.

"He's said it before, he knows he's a week-to-week proposition in terms of playing so he figures if he pressures and tackles well, the goals will come.

"That seems to be working quite well for him up to this point and he's added plenty of speed and pressure up forward."

Drew Petrie
12 senior games, 17 goals

"Drew's still playing key forward but he's come up the ground a lot more than he has. He's gone behind the ball at different times and held up playing down back late in quarters, most notably against Essendon.

"He's done a little bit of everything throughout a game and arguably he would’ve kicked more goals if he was playing a bit closer to goal.

"We're happy with his offensive output, but his defensive output has been the standout of his game."

Lindsay Thomas
12 senior games, 22 goals

"He's averaging two goals a game which isn't bad, but he's been a bit quieter in recent weeks.

"His first eight games were pretty consistent but we've seen a little bit of a drop off in the last month.

"If he goes the way he's going, he'll end up kicking over 40 goals and he's done that for the last two years. He wants to try and average two goals a game and be consistent."

Jarrad Waite
11 senior games, 19 goals

"'Waitey' has been a little bit up and down. He kicked seven goals against the Brisbane Lions, but he's had a couple of quiet little patches in terms of output on the scoreboard.

"If you said you'd get 19 goals out of Jarrad in the first 12 weeks, you'd almost take that, but the more pleasing thing is that he's been able to play all but one game.

"People would've questioned his durability when we got him because he's averaged about 16 games for the last five years, but he's almost there already."

Mason Wood
Six senior games, one goal

"'Mase' has played six games and has gone back to the VFL in the last month.

"He's working hard to get a spot back but with the guys that are already in the team and then 'Blacky' (Aaron Black) and Majak (Daw) also fighting for the next forward spots, he has to do enough at VFL level to put his name up.

"He's working hard to do that; he's knocking on the door but not breaking it down at this point."