WHEN Samoa was devastated by a tsunami in late September, North Melbourne forward Aaron Edwards was left to count his lucky stars.

That day, Edwards had woken to missed calls from family and friends on his mobile phone, unaware of the tragedy that would claim 190 lives and send the South Pacific island into turmoil.

Edwards' connection to Samoa was beyond it being his birthplace and home of his early childhood: his mother and uncle live there.

By the time he reached one of his three sisters contact had been made with his mother, who returned to Samoa from Melbourne 10 months ago to run a car rental company.

She had gone to higher ground like most of the citizens of Apia, Samoa's capital.

Relieved at his family's safety, Edwards realised that he too could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time if VFL affiliate North Ballarat had not made the finals.

The hotel the 25-year-old had planned to stay in had been destroyed.

"I would have booked for September," Edwards said. "We were meant to be there then and be back before the best and fairest."

Edwards' family is from the village of Moata`a, which is next to Apia but on the opposite side of the island hit by the tsunami.

He recently visited his mother, who was shaken by the ordeal, and saw that although a lot of the damage had been cleaned up relief efforts were still needed.

"Most of the best beaches have been taken out, as well as the two best hotels on the island," Edwards said. "There are cars still stuck in trees [and] half the road [is gone].

"I drove for about an hour along the coast and for the whole hour it was all affected. Some areas were worse than others.

"When I went over there, the tsunami had happened less than a month before and they said they had recorded over 100 tremors and earthquakes since - in the space of 20-something days.

"Everyone seems to be trying to get on with normal life. There would be a lot of people still grieving though."

Edwards spent almost a fortnight in Samoa, with coach Brad Scott allowing him to return to pre-season training four days later than the rest of his teammates.

While there, he regularly ran the athletics track used for the 2007 Pacific Games.

Edwards said he was looking for greater improvement next season under new forwards coach Brett Allison after playing just 10 games for the Roos in 2009.

Perhaps encouraged by his role in North Ballarat's road to a second premiership, the club signed Edwards to a one-year deal last month.

He said he had been too focused on his efforts for the Roosters to fret about his AFL future.

"I wasn't as nervous as I probably would have been if I dropped out and didn't play the North Ballarat finals because I would have had to wait a month - not doing anything," Edwards said.

"Once footy finished I had a talk to the club and they said they would offer me a contract, so it was good."