Shaun Higgins says North Melbourne’s players are still in football-mode and looking to improve, despite the current restriction measures in place.

While football won’t return until at least the start of June, the Roos are looking to come back game-ready, both physically and mentally.

“We’re definitely still in football-mode in terms of training and preparation,” Higgins said on SEN.

“We have daily and weekly catch-ups online as a group and coaches; it’s a great opportunity.

“Physically we might not be able to do a lot in terms of skill, although we’ve still got the footy in our hands … there’s so much vision we can watch, you can still have conversations over the phone and online with your coaches, looking at the game and breaking your game down.

“(You’re) really looking into ‘how do I become a better player?’, off the back of some downtime.”

Higgins said North’s younger brigade could benefit most from the extra time to learn.

“We don’t really get this opportunity and you never get this length of opportunity,” he said.

“You only get it in the off-season when players probably want to de-stress, get away from the game and probably take a step back from the rigours of football.

“We’re in game mode at the moment. We had a big pre-season. What an opportunity for young guys and all of us to look at our game and look at ways we can get better.

“Most guys can run or ride or get that sort of work in, do whatever football work you can physically, but there’s massive upside to try and develop your game through the educational side of it, whether it be through talking to players, or coaches.”

Listen to the full interview on SEN below.