During North Melbourne’s bye week, NMFC.com.au catches up with the assistant coaches to get their thoughts on every player on the club's list.

Following Monday's look at the defenders, today Darren Crocker discusses the midfielders.

Related content: The defenders

Liam Anthony
4 senior games, 1 goal
“He runs hard; he knows how to get on the end of the footy. When we’ve got the ball he spreads really well.

“He has to continue to work on his kicking, so when he does work hard to get the ball, then we maintain possession off his touches."

Ryan Bastinac
11 games, 4 goals
“Basti has shown this year that he can do some run-with roles if needed, he’s added that string to his bow.

“He’s done it in the past but this year we’ve assigned him to guys and he’s played really well. Not only can he go and win the footy, he can shut down the opposition midfielders.

“Something that he’s working on is being clean below his knees. He’s got nice hands but it’s been a focus for him this season to be clean down low.”

Ben Cunnington
11 games, 7 goals
“Cunners has really come on. When Jack was out at the end of last year he really stepped up and he’s continued on with that this year.

“He’s really high up for contested ball, his clearance work is really good and he’s using the ball well.

“The biggest thing we’ve been working on with Ben is to have a good balance between inside and outside ball. He’ll continue to work on his spread and getting himself in the position to win outside ball.”

Sam Gibson
11 games, 6 goals
“Gibbo is becoming a very consistent player. He had a great pre-season and he’s the best runner at the club. His spread is really good and he just needs to continue to work on his disposal.

“There’s been a couple of stretches where we’ve put him inside to run with an opposition player and he’s been able to do a good job.”

Levi Greenwood
“We targeted Levi to play as a mid-forward throughout the pre-season. Like Ben Jacobs we’ve now settled him into a more customary role which is playing through the middle and doing jobs on opposition midfielders.

“He’s got better and better each week. Levi knows he’s got to keep working on his kicking and decision making but he’s a real competitor. Hopefully he gets an opportunity soon.

“We want him to play AFL level football at VFL. He’s done that the last few weeks. When you go back through their vision, you keep going back to, ‘If that was Gary Ablett you were playing on, would you be able to get away with that?’"

Jordie Gysberts
“Gys had a bit of an opportunity early in the NAB Cup. He’s been working on a few areas in the VFL that will make him a valuable player for us.

“He’s got to improve his fitness. In a physical sense, his strength is like a guy who has come into our club and starting from scratch.

“We think he can play inside as well as a little bit on the wing once he improves his motor. He’s got really nice hands in close and is quite clean.

“Once he gets stronger and fitter he’ll be able to match it with the guys inside and then spread as well.”

Ben Jacobs
2 games, 0 goals
“Ben is really driven and really wants to get better. We were playing him on the wing in the early stages when he got an opportunity in the NAB Cup but back at VFL level we’ve played him more as an inside midfielder.

“For Ben it’s about learning the way we need him to play so he becomes a valuable contributor for us. Coming from another club, they have perhaps asked Ben to play a certain way but now we want him to become a contributor for us.

“Physically he’s a pretty mature guy and he’s not too far away. Just from a game sense perspective he’s still working on a few things."

Jamie Macmillan
11 games, 4 goals
“When he’s playing on the wing it’s all about playing his role in the team. He’s taken the job on playing on a few of the guys who we’ve wanted to take away run and penetration from outside.

“He’s been able to do that really well for us. An area he’s been working on strongly is making sure he stays in the contest and is working on being clean with the ball down low.”

Tim McGenniss
“Tim had a bit of a slow start, playing in a half-forward role. As soon as he moved into the midfield he’s really come on in leaps and bounds.

“He’s been really spreading well from stoppages and we’ll see more of his inside work in the next few weeks. He’s definitely more of a natural midfielder; he played there all through his juniors.

“At training he goes against the senior blokes and works on his stoppages and body work.”

– Jarred Moore

Brad McKenzie
“He’s really improving. We’ve been happy with how much he’s come on. The biggest thing for Brad is just getting some consistency into his game.

“He’s had some really good games at VFL level this year and started to push up for senior selection. But then he’ll have a quieter game.

“He’s been using the ball really well and the next step is developing a change of pace. When he gets possession he can break the lines a little bit more with a change of pace."

Will Sierakowski
4 games, 1 goal
“The biggest thing for Siera is that he has a good motor and he uses the ball well – we’ve been working on making sure he brings those strengths to the game.

“At times we’ve felt he hasn’t brought that aspect as much as he should. With that he can become a more damaging player."

Ben Speight
“Speighty’s been a little disappointed with his injuries that have curtailed him. We’re getting to the end of it now, his ankle seems to be right and he’s beginning to play full games.

“So far he’s been playing through the forward line but we’ve flagged the possibility of playing up through the middle onto a wing as well. He’s got to use his speed. It’s how he’s going to get a game, by really taking the opposition on and showing the speed we know he’s got.”

– Jarred Moore

Andrew Swallow
11 games, 2 goals
“He just keeps on keeping on; he’s unbelievable. In and under, contested footy, clearance work, tackling pressure, he does it all.

“For Andrew he’s continually working on his hands. He sometimes feels that if he goes away from that he’s not as clean as he’d like to be. He’s also working on his kicking and getting it in the right areas.

“He got overlooked by a lot of clubs in the draft because of his kicking, and we believe it’s nowhere near the issue that others thought it would be when he first got drafted.”

Daniel Wells
11 games, 8 goals
“Wellsy had an interrupted pre-season with his achilles, but considering that he’s been performing quite well. Perhaps he hasn’t been as consistent as he would have liked but from our perspective even when Wellsy hasn’t been as good as he would have liked, it’s still at a really strong standard.

“For instance against St Kilda, we were still really happy with his game when perhaps others wouldn’t have given him many accolades.

“The biggest thing for Wellsy is staying involved, up on his toes. When he’s doing that, staying alert and staying involved he’s as good as anyone else in the game in being able to pressure the opposition."

Jack Ziebell
9 games, 8 goals
“Ziebs has been really solid and really consistent with the way he’s gone about his football so far this year.

“He’s tough in the clinches. If there was an area to work on – he’s a technically good kick. But we’ve been working on getting the most value out of his possessions.

“It’s about getting him to not go for too much when kicking. He can try to go for something that’s a little too tough sometimes.”