In a midfield featuring the likes of Shaun Higgins, Ben Cunnington and Jared Polec, Trent Dumont can easily fly under the radar.

But after a fourth-place finish in the Syd Barker Medal, and now a promotion to the leadership group, the 24-year-old is fast growing his profile.

One of North Melbourne’s most reliable on-ballers, Dumont has played 43 of a possible 44 games across the last two seasons.

“It’s been a bit of a two-year trend. I started to really take my footy seriously a couple of years ago, and found out some things that work for me on and off-field,” he told SEN.

“I was able to perform on-field which is an important part of leadership, doing your job each week.”

Averaging close to 24 disposals a game in 2019, Dumont also continued his development as an emerging leader.

“Naturally I’ve always been able to connect with the lads pretty well, and always shown empathy and care for them,” he said.

“The relationships and connections you have with your mates, if you don’t have that deep connection there it’s hard to give feedback or for people to open up to you.

“I think it’s the most important part, getting that connection first, then you look to grow together.”

Dumont has clearly had an impact on his teammates. In a player-voted system, he was among eight selected for a new-look leadership group.

“The night before (the announcement) I was a little bit nervous, which shows to me how much I cared about the group … if they saw me in that light,” he said.

“Being a leader at North Melbourne is something I’ve always wanted to do, so I was pumped.

“The feedback piece is massive … if you have that connection (with teammates), they know it’s coming from a good place. I think they are more willing to take that on.

“If you talk to the bloke once a week, he’s probably going to tell you to ‘go and get stuffed’.”