The history of the Shinboner Spirit is a defining feature of the North Melbourne Football Club. Only through knowledge of those who came before can the club’s current representatives truly understand what it means to be a part of this great club.

With new players pulling on the royal blue and white stripes every season, North is looking to keep its traditions alive, by ensuring all players are aware of its long and storied history.

To Shinboner number 1034, Will Phillips, opportunities to learn about the club's rich history are welcomed with open arms, and the passion he already holds for North is evident.

“We sit down with Gavin Brown and Boomer Harvey every two or three weeks and they give us little tasks,” Phillips told North Media.

“We’ve had like a homework task where we had to research a bit about the history of the club. We were given another task where we had to call some of the former players who wore our respective numbers.

“I think the pull on my jumper on game day sort of reflected that I have such pride for the Shinboner Spirit … it just came to me in the moment, it’s something I’m proud of.”

Being selected with the number three pick in the 2020 NAB AFL Draft, the North faithful have high hopes for Phillips in the AFL arena.

The inside midfielder says he is proud to be given the opportunity to represent the Roos, and he is committed to improving all aspects of this game.

“I don’t really like the term weakness. I’d probably call them areas of improvement,” he said.

“I haven’t really done much training on marking, and it’s pretty rare when I take a contested mark. I might need to do a bit on that.

“As far as the draft … we’ll know probably in 15 years who the best player in the draft was, but ultimately I don’t think you can ever really know. They [draftees] go to different teams, they lead different lives … it’s pretty exciting.”