FOLLOWING what he describes as a hard road back, North Melbourne midfielder Daniel Harris plans to treat every game like it is his last.

Harris, 27 this month, played his first match of the season against Collingwood on Friday night after starting the year with Werribee in the VFL.

Named as an emergency for five weeks, Harris' inclusion came after captain Brent Harvey was ruled out for up to three months with an elbow injury.

Harris said he was at the stage of his career where he needed to cement his spot in the side again but his teammates and coaches had given him plenty of support.

"I do have a point to prove," he said from Arden Street on Tuesday.

"I've had a few things to work on and have gone back to the VFL and I've done that. Hopefully I can stay in the senior team now.

"[It wasn't] a great result on the weekend but it sure is good to be back playing ones."

Harris played every game for the Roos last year, taking his career tally to 139, but had a falling out with coach Dean Laidley during the season and considered being traded in October.

However, he said his relationship with Laidley was now as good as it had ever been and his predicament at the end of 2008 had provided the jolt he needed.

"There were a few issues there that we had to sort out," Harris said of the tension with his coach.

"That's dead and buried now and we've moved on.

"Footy doesn't last forever and I've always wanted to stay at North Melbourne – always wanted to be a Kangaroo. So I'm really happy to still be here."

Harris, one of North's three first-round selections in the 2000 draft, said the message from Laidley and midfield coach Anthony Rock in recent weeks was to rediscover his strengths at the lower level.

He gathered 29 possessions in his last hit-out for Werribee and had 22, including seven contested touches, in his return to the senior side.

"I know what's expected of me," he said. "I've been around a long time.

"As soon as you're not performing to that level, you're going to go back to the VFL just like anyone else. I understand where I'm at with my footy and I'm doing everything I can to improve."

Harris said he was excited by the club's prospects and the emergence of its younger players, including Gavin Urquhart and Matt Riggio.

"Coming to the pointy end of my career, I want to taste some success and I reckon that's not too far away," he said.