Despite the Kangaroos winning nine of their last ten matches, those pushing up through the VFL are keeping the current 22 on their toes, Tarrant included.
“I don’t see myself as cemented in that side. There’s some really good form in the VFL, and the pressure’s definitely on to perform each week,” he told RSN Racing and Sport.
“It’s a massive thing that there’s a lot of pressure. When you get your opportunity you have to take it, because you are not going to be around for long and someone else can come up and take your spot.”
Having kicked 13 goals in the last four games, Tarrant admits his fortunes are somewhat dependent on the success of North’s trio of talls which also includes Drew Petrie and Lachie Hansen.
“Although the output is important, I know my performance is not going to be based solely on touches and goals. It’s based on how well the three forwards work together, and at the moment that’s working really well.
“This is the tenth week we’ve been together now so we’re starting to develop an understanding of each other’s game and it’s working really well. We can try and spread the defence as much as we can and get one-on-one’s for each of us and especially Drewy (Petrie). That’s why it’s working so well I think.”
The 23-year old rates Petrie highly and says the opposition’s focus on shutting down the vice-captain makes the role of him and Hansen even more pivotal.
“Drew’s such a superstar and an awesome team player that he sacrifices his game sometimes to help Lachie and I out and we hopefully do the same for Drewy.
“You can’t rely on Drewy kicking five or six goals each week. It’s nice when he does and we hope he continues to do that, but we need an even spread across the board.
“Lachie and I have to continue to work hard and continue to put ourselves in the right spots to get the football.”
All eyes will be on the Kangaroos’ main training session on Thursday, with Daniel Wells hoping to prove his fitness before Sunday’s match against the Dockers.
“I think he’s come up pretty well. He’s such an important player to us and we really want him out there.
“It’s going to be a big game. We need to continue to do the things we’ve been doing over the last eight or nine weeks to get over the line because they’re (the Dockers) in some pretty good form.
“They’ve got big Pav (Matthew Pavlich) down there and they’ve got a pretty good midfield, so we are going to have to be on to take it up to them.”
