The development of North Melbourne’s young and exciting list under the tutelage of David Noble has been nothing short of exceptional.

The continued improvement of the likes of Tarryn Thomas, Jy Simpkin and Ben McKay, coupled with debuts for Will Phillips, Tom Powell and Charlie Lazzaro indicates Noble’s faith in the Roos’ youth.

He says the progression of the club’s young players shows the worth of his much discussed ‘process’.

“I feel like we have a really clear pathway. We’re trying to build some systems and some processes that are going to hold us in good stead,” Noble told AFL 360.

“It’s the methodology of what you want to do around to contest … how that looks and teaching that.

“If you can build those strategies now and embed them and form them as habits, when the pressure comes you fall back on your habits.

“In a nutshell that’s what we’re trying to do.”

With six weeks of improvement culminating in a win against Hawthorn, North faltered on the weekend as it suffered defeat to an efficient Essendon side.

Noble says the Roos’ problems in the clash stemmed from execution more than anything else, and his side is keen to rectify its mistakes.

“We knew what we wanted to bring this week, we just couldn’t deliver it … it’s a mentality,” he said.

“We knew Essendon would want a bounce game, we knew they’d want low stoppages, and I think we’ve seen that consistently through the front half of the season that if you’re off a little bit, it doesn’t matter who you are, anyone can take advantage if you’re off in that mentality.

“Mentality drives your attitude, that’s the whole aspect as a coaching group of the consistent element we’re looking for each and every week.”

North’s injuries this season have been well documented, with the likes of Aidan Corr, Like McDonald and Aiden Bonar all spending extended stints on the sidelines.

While the return of Trent Dumont to the AFL side has somewhat eased the pressure, North is set for a big boost in the defensive half of the ground in the coming weeks, with Robbie Tarrant to return via the VFL this week.

Tarrant hasn’t been seen in North colours so far in 2021, with a groin issue sidelining him, before having a small mass on his kidney removed.

Noble says everyone is excited to see the veteran defender back on the park in North colours.

“It’s very exciting to get him back. He’s been training really hard for probably the last month now, back to full tilt,” he said.

“He’s pretty keen and eager and we’ve been able to escalate his return a week earlier so [we’ll] give him a bit of a run this week, go into the bye and then he’s back for Round 13. That’s really valuable for us.”