Ruckman Todd Goldstein reaffirmed his rich vein of form by setting a new hit-out record of 80 in North's round 12 win against Greater Western Sydney.

Captain Andrew Swallow leads the Roos' tackle count with 79, while hard nut Jack Ziebell isn't far off the mark with 72.

Ben Cunnington has also impressed and leads both the stoppage (54) and centre clearance (38) statistics.

NMFC.com.au caught up with midfield coach Leigh Tudor to chat about how the onballers are tracking at the halfway point of the season.

Ryan Bastinac
10 senior games, 166 disposals

"He's been a little bit up and down. He's played some really good football for us at times, but at other times he's been a little bit off.

"It's mainly been some defensive, running patters and early decision-making stuff that's been lacking. They're things we've been working on for a while and he's just got to get better at them.

"Having said that, a couple of his games this year have been as good as he has played."

Ben Cunnington
12 senior games, 271 disposals

"His game is right up there; he's very similar to Jack (Ziebell).

"His inside work's been outstanding – clearances, tackles and blocks. The way he plays for the team and the way he sets up at stoppages shows he really understands the game and the structures.

"He's really become an organiser in there and he and 'Goldy' (Goldstein) have got a good little thing going on."

Trent Dumont
Six senior games, 56 disposals

"He was made to earn his spot in the 22-man squad. He had some things to work on with the development boys but when the opportunity came, he really grabbed it.

"He's been hard and clean which are the two most important things for an inside midfielder and he showed he can do that.

"He's starting to learn the lifestyle of an AFL player now that he's played a few games and understands all he needs to do."

Sam Gibson
12 senior games, 261 disposals

"He's got room for improvement and he's always out there working on them, so hopefully he gets the results.

"He's really valuable with our transition where he can join in with the team in the attack and join in on the defence – he's a good decision-maker in that area.

"He hasn't had as much of the ball this year as he has last year, so the focus for him would be to try and get more of the ball in the second half of the year."

Todd Goldstein
12 senior games, 165 disposals

"I think he would be (in career-best form); he's just been amazing. Last week against the Giants, the hit-outs to advantage and the record hits were fantastic.

"He's in the top three for defensive acts in the club and he's a ruckman – that's an outstanding performance.

"He's communicating at stoppages, he's very direct and he's starting to put it on the other midfielders when things are going well and when they're not going well about what he wants to do with set-ups."

Ben Jacobs
10 senior games, 184 disposals

"He performed a play-on, play-off role on Sydney Swans midfielder Daniel Hannebery (in round 11) and the following week against Dylan Shiel from the Giants.

"They were the same roles in both games … and he's actually done it pretty well.

"In the last two weeks, he's shown that he can play an accountable midfield role for us which is another good string to his bow."

Andrew Swallow
10 senior games, 214 disposals

"He missed a couple of games (in rounds eight and nine) with his broken thumb but he got straight back into it.

"In his comeback game from injury, he had 13 tackles so it was a really courageous performance.

"He's another one that's really stood up in the last few weeks when we needed him to. His inside work has been really good and his tackles and defensive pressure have been first-class."

Jack Ziebell
12 senior games, 236 disposals

"Jack's been great. He's been really high on the defensive acts and the inside work.

"His communication and organisation around the stoppages has been really good again.

"Even in the last couple of weeks with the coach (Brad Scott) not around, he's really stepped up and shown really good leadership qualities."