Incoming North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has continued to unveil his vision for the Kangaroos, admitting he's already speaking with potential recruits.
Clarkson says he' has "crossed paths with one or two" players from other clubs, although he added no discussions had been of great depth.
But asked if he would target players he had coached as well as experienced talents to bolster the young list, Clarkson confirmed he was interested but would also look for existing Kangaroos players to step up.
"I think a couple will help," he told Fox Sports.
"We need a couple of guys around that 27, 28-year-old bracket ... but some of the guys like (Aidan) Corr and (Ben) McKay and even (Nick) Larkey, these guys are sort of mid-20s and in a couple of years ... they're gonna be the guys that you build your club around."
North have already been linked with former Clarkson players Bradley Hill, who has three years left to run on a big-money deal at St Kilda, and Jack Gunston, who is a free agent.
They will also be bolstered by the return of inside midfielder Ben Cunnington, who played one game in 2022 while battling testicular cancer.
The Kangaroos will also hope to retain No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis, who has been been linked with a return to his home state of South Australia, despite having only spent one year with the side.
Clarkson said he hadn't yet spoken with Horne-Francis, but saw his challenging first season as an opportunity to grow.
"He's probably been a star right through his juniors and he's got to an environment where they weren't going so well, he wasn't performing to the levels that he's been so used to throughout his junior career.
"This will be a great learning year for him and hopefully with a bit of guidance, another pre-season, a realisation that despite being the No.1 draft pick, this game is pretty hard.
"He's got a long journey ahead, hopefully all at the North Melbourne footy club."
Clarkson also addressed rumours he would bring a number of backroom staff with him to North Melbourne, saying they weren't accurate.
But he said he would like to bring former Melbourne great Todd Viney to the club in a football director role.
"It's important you have a really strong team of people around you, but that's not going to be a huge team, all this speculation about a whole uplifting of staff at North Melbourne and bringing in a whole new crew of people isn't actually right," he said.
"We'll try to take a couple of people to North Melbourne, but by and large, the improvement of that footy club is going to come with the people that are already there."
