North Melbourne Director of Football Geoff Walsh says he won’t be asking Jack Ziebell to change the way he approaches the ball, after the midfielder copped a heavy knock on Saturday.
RELATED: Ziebell incident
Ziebell was taken from the field from a stretcher after a collison with Alex Rance during the second quarter of the victory over the Tigers.
"I think Jack is quite aware of his surroundings but I think it’s just his nature that he does play with such a fearless attitude,” Walsh told SEN’s Morning Glory.
"Unfortunately he’s been caught a couple of times, but I don’t think that’s a real issue with him and I think we’d much rather he play with the fearless attitude that he has."
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Walsh said Ziebell’s attack on the ball makes him a vital asset for North.
"I think that’s why he’s such a good player. It’s very hard to change a players’ style of play and I don’t think we’d be wanting to do that.”
With the season opener in Adelaide now just a fortnight away, Ziebell will be given maximum recovery time.
"The good thing for Jack and for us is that it’s not the normal seven days between games," Walsh said.
"We play on Easter Sunday, so he’s got 15 to 16 days to get over it, so hopefully that’s the case. There are base line concussion tests the players all do, so he’ll be monitored on his responses to that.
"He won’t return to full training until our doctors are quite sure he’s recovered."
Walsh also weighed in to the debate on the Etihad Stadium roof, joining many others who have called for the retractable roof to be shut.
"The feedback from both players and coaches... I’m not sure it was a success from our point of view," he said.
"The game is hard enough to play before we start to put hurdles up in front of the guys."
RELATED: Should the roof be closed?