North Melbourne skipper Jack Ziebell has backed new teammate, Aiden Bonar, to have an early impact this season.

The former Giant arrived at Arden Street during the trade period in October, and has quickly made his presence felt.

“Aiden’s turned up in unreal shape,” Ziebell said on SEN.

“He’s a very big young lad from GWS. We can all see why he was such a high draft pick.”

Selected with pick 11 at the 2017 NAB AFL Draft, Bonar played six games across two seasons at his former club, and is known for ability to play both through the midfield and attack.

“He’s trained really well so far,” Ziebell continued.

“He’s very big and powerful and I’d like to see him in our midfield pretty early on to see if he can add a few more dimensions in there, and just give a bit more flexibility and depth as well.

“I think we all saw in a few of the games he played over the last couple of years that he’s got the ability to go forward and take a mark and kick a goal. It’s an exciting prospect for our fans, and for us as players as well.

“We loved having ‘Big Bon’ come in and he’s done it the right way as well, which has been great.”

Bonar could get his first chance to impress when North takes on the Dogs in the Marsh Series fixture on February 21, at Marvel Stadium.

All eyes will be on selection for the Roos’ first competitive hit-out.

“I can speak on behalf of every footballer at this time of year, we just can’t wait to get back into games against genuine opposition, instead of training against ourselves,” Ziebell said.