Developing ruckman Braydon Preuss says he's learning to not dwell on past performances and believes he gets the most out of his football when he enters games with a laid-back approach.

The 20-year-old, who was recruited by North with pick No.15 in last year's rookie draft, has played all but one game for VFL affiliate North Ballarat in his first year at Arden Street.

But Preuss said the increased physical demands and pressures compared to under-18 level were beginning to have an impact.

"The start of the year was really good. I was finding a bit of the footy and competing well in the ruck, but the last five or six games I haven't been great," Preuss told NMFC.com.au.

"I've got to find what I'm doing wrong and fix that to get back to the form I was in."

After playing rugby league until the age of 16, Preuss was introduced to AFL courtesy of his local mate, who was selected in Australia's under-15 AFL team.

Despite living in the rugby league heartland of Townsville, Preuss moved out of home to join the Gold Coast Suns Academy in 2013. However a serious ankle injury hampered his progress and he returned to his hometown.

The youngster overcame the setback and rejoined the Suns at the start of last year, representing Queensland at the Under-18 Championships.

Preuss's early season performances since being selected by the Roos saw him approach matches with his usual jovial personality.

But the 206cm tall said he had shifted away from his natural game and was now trying to get that enjoyment factor back into his routine.

"I've learnt that some people play their best footy when they just don't think; they're on autopilot. When I look back at the start of the year, I was doing that, being myself and just mucking around in the warm-up, and that works for me," he said.

"Lately, I've been a lot more serious and that's just not me; I like to muck around a bit more."

Preuss acknowledged he had a tendency to over-analyse his on-field mistakes.

"Once you play one bad game or even do a bad kick or get outmarked, you just seem to dwell on it and don't move on," he said.

North development manager Ben Dyer named a broad range of technical skills Preuss, and all emerging ruckmen for that matter, had to work on to succeed in the modern game.

"Ruckmen at under-18 level just run in and jump and contest, whereas now he comes up against smart ruckmen in the VFL that know how to use their strength," Dyer said.

"They've got to be proficient at all different types of stoppages, be able to work in with the onballers, deal with third-ups, be able to go forward, learn some running patterns and how to work in with the other forwards as well."

Dyer said Preuss was learning how to use his strong 102kg presence in a functional way, while being able to dominate an opponent for long periods was also "a priority".

"If you've got a ruckman that is a real influence on the game and is leading from the front, that can set the tone for the rest of the team," he said.

"You don't go outside the rules of the game doing it but there's nothing to stop you clearing the path for the onballers and just exerting yourself in a physical way so they know you're around."

In a promising sign, Preuss used his physical strength and power in the ruck and up forward during the second half of the Roosters' match against the Northern Blues last Sunday.

"I was just angry that I wasn't playing well (in the first half) to be honest, so I got out there in the second half and tried smashing blokes and it worked," Preuss said.

"I like to just go around and tackle blokes so I'm just trying to get back to doing what I was doing at the start of the year."