Young Roo already a top-30 player in the competition following positional shift

Harry Sheezel’s move from half-back to the midfield has elevated the young North Melbourne star into the top 30 players in the competition, according to Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne.

While the 19-year-old is finding less of the footy than the first half of the season, his impact has increased – particularly from a post-contest perspective.

“I love what he’s been doing. The role he’s played over the last six or seven weeks, he’s no longer that player that when you look down at the stat sheet and he’s had 30-35 (disposals) and you’re going to recognise him,” Hoyne told SEN’s Sportsday.

“He is one of these players that has completely flipped his game for the absolute greater good of the team and he’s now having the impact that we see from the best players in the competition.

“Over the whole season now, he’s a second-year player, he’s a top-30 player across the competition because what he’s doing with ball in hand and his ball-winning ability is so dangerous and so clean.

“We talk a lot about the post-clearance ball being king, this guy is one of them.

“I think we can all now appreciate what Nick Daicos does from a contest profile – he is a contested possession player, he just does it differently.

“This guy is not Nick, but he’s not too dissimilar to what he does from a contested possession profile.

“You might not recognise or appreciate it, but some of the stuff he’s doing from a contested perspective is special and it’s clean and it’s having the impact that is going to change North Melbourne for the greater good.

“I just wanted to give him a little shout out.”

Sheezel and the Roos face the struggling Demons on Saturday night in the annual Breast Cancer Network Australia game.