While North Melbourne is hopeful that its new recruits can help the side build on its ninth place finish last year, captain Jack Ziebell believes the true improvement will come from its young, emerging stars.
Ziebell says years under the watchful eyes of the club's experienced coaching staff can help the young Roos develop and get to a level that will see them push for a spot in the best 22.
“I think our improvement will come from the guys that have been at the club for a number of years,” Ziebell told RSN.
“That core group of young guys that are now turning 20, 21, 22-years-old have been exposed to senior football and know what it’s all about.
“I think they’ve got that hunger and that drive to individually get the most out of their career as possible, but I think they’re really starting to grasp that team aspect as well to understand where we want to go as a team and what we want to achieve.”
The 27-year-old believes those players around the 50-game mark are the ones to keep an eye on heading into the new season.
“We’ve had a few guys really turn up this pre-season, and really improve on their past couple of seasons,” he said.
“Jy Simpkin and Trent Dumont, guys who have played a little bit of footy, have come back this summer and really improved in all aspects of their physical build and training habits.
“Jed Anderson had a breakout year last year, but has really come back this pre-season and continued his form, which is great to see.
“They’re all going really well in the match simulations we’ve played so far.”
While it’s only his first year as an AFL player, Tarryn Thomas is another player Ziebell touts as a big contributor to the side in 2019 and the years to come.
“Tarryn was fortunate enough to spend about two or three years with us as a member of the Next Generation Academy before he got drafted,” he said.
“When he first came down to training, he trained with us, he made things look effortless.
“As a 15, 16, 17-year-old kid, he was amazing, he was doing things against AFL opponents that were quite astounding, and he’s continued to do that this pre-season.
“He’s a very talented footballer, and he’s obviously still got a bit of work to do in certain areas of the game, but I think he’ll be a very good player for us for a very long time.”
While North will look to not only feature in September but also make an impact in the finals this year, the Roos' captain believes that development of the younger brigade will continue.
“Brad’s really good at that, he’s always got one eye on the young guys, the future and looks to get them into the senior side,” Ziebell added.
“I think that’s fantastic, because over the past couple of years we’ve been bleeding a lot of young players, and hopefully that’s to help reward us this year and in years to come.”
