THE DISAPPOINTMENT of coach Dean Laidley was probably enough for North Melbourne’s Scott McMahon to harbour a similar view of his 2008 season.

After 16 games in 2007, including the club's three finals, McMahon seemed to have made the adjustment to the elite level – and the Roos had unearthed a very handy small forward.

Laidley had been a strong advocate for McMahon since selecting him in the 2005 NAB AFL Rookie Draft, but pulled no punches when his player returned for the pre-season overweight.

It took until round eight for the South Australian to get a game and he conceded that he wasn't playing his best football in the VFL at the start of the year.

"I agreed with him (Laidley)," said McMahon, who now weighs 85kg after entering last season at 87. "But when I came back we had different ideas. I'd put on a few kilos.

"Coming back for the start of this pre-season, I've dropped them again. I'm looking at dropping another half-a-kilo or a kilo, then we'll all be happy and hopefully that will make me get my best times.

"In the long run I want to become a midfielder, have a wingman role, so if I want to play that role I really need to lose the weight and maybe back off on the weights a bit."

The 22-year-old was dropped after the round-11 loss to Geelong and didn't earn a recall until round 15. He saw out the season from there in a variety of roles, sometimes pushed into defence, and missed a bit of the spark of his previous campaign.
 
Determined, McMahon has set some goals for his fifth pre-season – including selection for his first NAB Cup game.

In the top five finishers for North's 3.2km time trial at Princes Park with 11min 1sec, he was frustrated at narrowly missing his personal best time (10min 59sec) but hopes that this month's increased speed endurance work will help him bridge that gap.

And it will dictate whether Laidley and midfield coach Anthony Rock decide McMahon can be used in the midfield, after getting that opportunity for a couple of quarters last year.

"I really enjoyed that little bit of freedom you get to run around a bit more," he said. "In the forward line, you're mainly stuck down there.

"We've sat down and talked about that I want to ideally play in the midfield. It's pretty much all up to me. I've just got to play well in the trials and hopefully they see that and have the confidence in me to hold down a spot in there."

McMahon is also aiming for his first round one berth but is aware of the competition within a fit squad. Robbie Tarrant (shoulder) is the only player still hampered by injury.

"The plan is to get a couple of NAB Cup games and hopefully play well enough in them to get [picked for] round one," he said. "But there are 45 fit guys out there.

"I've got to do everything right and play well in the trial games to put my hand up. That's the plan – play well and be up there for round one.

"I set out a few goals to reach and I'm pretty close to most of them so, when the games start, hopefully I have achieved them. We'll wait and see."