He’s coming off a four-goal haul, but Mason Wood isn’t getting too carried away.

“I’ll take a little bit of confidence out of it, knowing it’s not AFL standard footy just yet,” he said following North’s first NAB Cup win over St Kilda on Saturday.

“It’s not bad playing good but it’s NAB Cup and you can only take what you can from the game. We know it’s a big step away from round one and that’s what I’m trying to build for.”

The 22-year old forward said he enjoyed playing alongside Drew Petrie and Jarrad Waite, and used the opportunity to learn as much as he could from them.

“Drewy plays a little bit differently but Waitey, to me, plays a similar role and hits up really well. Just his work rate and the stuff he does without the ball in his hand is something I can really model my game on,” Wood said.

“We moved really well as a forward group and tried to bring some intensity in the forward half. I played a little bit smaller at times which helps and we provided some good targets up front.”

With eight AFL games under his belt, Wood knows 2016 will provide more opportunities even though he’ll have to get ahead of Ben Brown and Aaron Black for a spot in the best 22.

“I think I’ve done the work ... I just wanted to get a full pre-season in and I’ve done that and hopefully I can reap the benefits of that this year.”