A positional change has been mooted for North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell.
Ziebell told Channel 7 over the weekend that new coach David Noble has floated the idea of a possible shift to half-back in 2021.
Nick Dal Santo, who played alongside Ziebell in North’s midfield between 2014 and 2016, has questioned the move as he still believes the Kangaroos skipper is better suited as a ball-winning midfielder.
“I must say I’m a touch surprised,” Dal Santo said on SEN Breakfast.
“Jack Ziebell, in my opinion, is a midfielder. He is a bull, he attacks the ball like few others and puts himself in harm’s way a lot of the time.
“As a teammate, you love him for that, for the example that he sets. I look at their midfield group and I look at (Ben) Cunnington, (Jy) Simpkin, (Trent) Dumont, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Tarryn Thomas and Jed Anderson.
“So for him to go to half-back would suggest that he’s been squeezed out of that (midfield) group.
“I’m very surprised. I’m not saying that Jack Ziebell can’t necessarily play a half-back role. I think it will take him a while to get used to that.”
Dal Santo further explained the reasons why he feels Ziebell should be operating in the engine room and not playing on the periphery at half-back.
“I see ‘Ziebs’ as still one of the best inside midfielders, particularly at North Melbourne,” he added.
“When he’s anywhere near fit, and he doesn’t always get as much of the football as I would like him to get, but he just impacts the game in different ways.
“I still see him as an inside midfielder, but maybe they’re looking for greater balance. Maybe they feel like they’ve got too many players similar with Cunnington, Jed Anderson and Trent Dumont playing a similar role.
“Jack Ziebell is a ball winner. He’s a see ball, go get ball player. Now he’s got to balance that out with, ‘my first responsibility is to defend, and then at the right time I’ve got to roll off’. You think of the best running half-backs in the comp, they have a brilliant balance between the two.
“If they are going to try it, go as hard as you possibly can. All I’m going to say for North Melbourne supporters is don’t be surprised if it doesn’t look brilliant for the first half of the year.”
Ziebell, who is entering his 13th season with North, is out of contract at the end of 2021. He has played 218 games for the Roos.