IT'S HARD to believe now, but Aaron Edwards once struggled with his goalkicking.

The North Melbourne spearhead has kicked a remarkable 22.2 this season, a conversion rate of 91.7 per cent.

To put that into perspective, Coleman Medal frontrunner Lance Franklin has kicked 39.36, a 52 per cent conversion rate. And of the competition's top 25 goalkickers after round 12, only Richmond's Jake King (19.3, 86.4 per cent) and Jack Riewoldt (38.10, 79.2 per cent) come close to Edwards.

If Edwards has resembled a robot in front of goals this season, his accuracy was almost as impressive in 2010, when he kicked 25.5 at an 83.3 per cent conversion rate. 

Edwards was also a sharpshooter when he spent 2006 in the VFL with Frankston. Delisted by West Coast at the end of 2005, after playing four games in three years on the Eagles' rookie list, Edwards responded by kicking 100 goals with the Dolphins to win the 2006 J.J. Liston Trophy.

It was good enough to earn him an AFL recall, with North claiming him with pick No. 82 in that year's NAB AFL Draft. At that point, Edward's trusty right foot suddenly became less reliable, both in its accuracy and penetration. 

In the 18 games Edwards played in 2007, he kicked 23.14 (62.2 per cent conversion) and in an injury-interrupted 2008 season he kicked 7.5 (58.3 per cent) from his seven games.

They were hardly disastrous figures, but Edwards prides himself on his ability to take his chances in front of goal.

"I had to look at it to see if it was in my head or something else was going on," Edwards, 27, told afl.com.au at Aegis Park on Wednesday.

"I thought I was a reasonably good kick prior to that, it was one of my strong points. But, at that stage, when I was getting the opportunities in a game I wasn't nailing them."

Edwards says he eventually realised his problems were mainly mental.

"I just tried to relax a bit more and slow things down before taking a shot," he said.

"I think over the past two years I've been able to turn things around."

Edward says the most important decision in that period was resisting the urge to change his goalkicking routine. Edwards' routine has always been simple. He kicks off eight steps, starting with two short steps, looking up at the goals in his next two steps, then building up momentum in the last four as he focuses on kicking through the ball.

He says his routine was a huge reason behind his phenomenal run in front of goal this season.

"I'm confident in my routine. I just go back and stick to what I know, stick to my guns, and it seems to keep me pretty relaxed," he said.

"Hopefully I'll kick a goal, but if not I'll just go back to my routine the next time."

As confident as he is now in front of goal, Edwards' confidence took a hit earlier this year when he was dropped to the VFL following the Kangaroos' round four loss to Fremantle.

After a "great" pre-season, Edwards was picked in North's round one side for the first time in his five years at Aegis Park. It gave him hope he could finally cement a regular senior spot after having failed to play more than 14 games in a season since his debut year. 

But after kicking five goals in North's first three games, he became a victim of the Kangaroos' slow start to the season.

"To cement a spot has always been tough for me," Edwards said.

"Brad (Scott) said I wasn't playing bad football, but they wanted to try a different make-up with the forward line.

"All I could do was play my role in the VFL, play the way the coaches wanted me to play, and hopefully push my way back in."

Edwards certainly did that. His form with North Ballarat was excellent and culminated in a 10-goal haul against Geelong's VFL side, which earned him a recall for the Kangaroos' round eight clash with Melbourne.

Edwards kicked six goals in that match and, in an indication of his strong workrate, laid five tackles.

In the five games since his return, he has kicked 17 goals and, despite missing three games, he leads North's 2011 goalkicking list with 22.

Together with Drew Petrie and Lachie Hansen, Edwards gives North's forwardline formidable aerial strength.

If he maintains his current form, the regular senior berth he craves seems assured.