Shaun Higgins has enjoyed an uninterrupted pre-season since crossing from the Western Bulldogs. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Corp Australia
NORTH Melbourne recruit Shaun Higgins is confident his best football still lies ahead of him as he savours a fresh start at the Kangaroos.
Higgins said he felt he had been given a "new lease on life" after joining the Roos in last year's free agency period after nine years at the Western Bulldogs.
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The 26-year-old managed 129 games during that time at the Kennel, with a frustrating run of injuries, including a navicular fracture in 2013, taking their toll on his career so far.
But Higgins said his body was keeping up its end of the bargain and he was ready to deliver for his new team after a strong pre-season.
"I'm feeling really good and definitely feel like my best footy is in front of me,'' Higgins said at the Kangaroos' community camp in Werribee on Thursday.
"It's just been restricted a little bit of late. I felt last year was building towards that after missing 12 months of footy, so we'll continue on that path.
"I've been playing back down forward and through the midfield, which I love.
"My body is feeling really good. It's been a really good pre-season.
"I've been able to do the majority of it, which has been great and (with) no post-season surgery last year, I was in pretty good condition kicking off the pre-season.''
Higgins played 20 games in 2014 for the Bulldogs after he was restricted to just three the year before when he injured his foot.
He was used across half-back in a change of role last season, but is looking forward to a return to where he plays his "best footy".
"It will be half-forward and through the midfield, although playing a little bit down back last year gives me the flexibility to be able to do that if I have to,'' Higgins said. "But all indications are that it will be mid-forward.
"I think I play my best footy mid-forward, but it's just what the team needs. I was in the position last year where the team needed (me in) that role.
"But I'm really looking forward to getting back to the old half-forward/mid role.''
The recruitment of Higgins and former Blues forward Jarrad Waite has fuelled suggestions the Kangaroos, who bowed out in a preliminary final to Sydney last year, have primed themselves for a serious flag tilt in the next couple of years.
"I didn't really feel like that's why I joined, but clearly having played finals in the past it would be exciting to get back there,'' Higgins said.
"The whole playing group are expecting to improve from last year, as all teams are.
"That for me is just an added bonus.
"I think it was a pretty good fit regardless of whether they were playing finals or not and there's no guarantees, but it would be nice to get back to playing some September footy.''
Higgins said it was not until the end of last season he decided he needed a change of scenery, but knew straight away after speaking to North it was the club he wanted to join.
"Once I got to the end of the year and weighed up all my options and where I was at ... I felt like I needed a fresh start,'' Higgins said.
"From the get go that I met with North Melbourne, I felt like that was where I needed to be and I'm rapt that everything got done and the result is what it is now.''
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