Having played under triple-premiership skipper Michael Voss at Brisbane, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has a good handle on what makes a strong leader.

And Scott says young Kangaroos midfielder Jack Ziebell is not only a man others naturally follow, he’s a player who is yet to scratch the surface of his playing potential in the AFL.

“We certainly haven’t seen anywhere near what Jack’s capable of producing, even though in the second half of 2011 he really got a hold of some games,” Scott told AAP.

“He had it 41 times against the Western Bulldogs (in round 17).

“For a player who can win as much contested ball as he can, that’s a significant amount of footy to win in one game.

“We appointed him as vice-captain at 21.

“That’s not because we felt we wanted a young leader.

“It’s because Jack picked himself as a leader. He just is a leader.

“The definition of leader is to get other people to follow you.

“People just gravitate to him and they follow his lead.

“He’s going to be a vital component to our midfield.”

Ziebell played 21 games last year and finished sixth in the best and fairest, as the Wodonga recruit rebounded from a series of injury dramas and queries over his endurance.

“He’s a really well-rounded footballer,” Scott says.

“He has had an uninterrupted 18 months after being drafted as a 17-year-old and then breaking his legs in consecutive years.

“The path he’s had to now has been quite tough but we’re all excited about the continuity he’s had in the last 18 months.”

Scott says if North can go one better than their ninth placing of the past two seasons, players like Ziebell will be vital in September.

“Once you get to the finals, it becomes a brutal contest and the side that’s better at that usually wins,” said Scott, who was famously hard at the ball and the man in his 168-game playing career that included two flags with Brisbane.

“It has been the same since footy was invented and hopefully it will continue to be.”

North lost their round-two pre-season cup match with the Swans by 17 points last weekend and host Western Bulldogs at North Ballarat in round three on Sunday.