North Melbourne defender Shaun Atley says he and his Kangaroos' teammates are hungry to be involved in September in 2020. 

Eight of Atley’s 197 career games have been finals, a number that he isn’t satisfied with.

“I’m 27 this year and I’ve played seven or so finals and six of them were in a two-year span, so you’d probably think you’d have a few more,” Atley told the Herald Sun. 

“I’m definitely hungry to get back there and that’s definitely our goal this year as a club. 

“We want to play finals and I think the supporters expect that of us as well. 

“It starts from the top when (club chairman) Ben Buckley spoke about how we can’t accept that and we want to play finals, so that’s definitely the mindset for all of us.” 

Atley admits it has been difficult watching the last three finals series’ from home, with the Roos last making the eight in 2016.

And the feeling of September envy is something that he doesn’t want to feel in 2020. 

“You definitely get jealous,” he said.

“It can be hard to watch for sure. 

“Some of the boys don’t even watch it because they don’t want to get that feeling, but we understand and we know it can turn really quickly.

“But at the same time there’s a lot of work that needs to go in behind that to get to that stage.” 

Success in the back-half of 2019 and a strong start to the pre-season has Atley feeling confident. 

“The preparation starts with the small things we do and it leads up and builds and hopefully we’re in a good spot this year.”