Jed Anderson says a preseason VFL match was the catalyst for his breakout season. 

Despite a frustrating start to his time as a Kangaroo due to injuries, the 24-year-old was quietly confident the could get his body right and reach new heights in 2018.

“I played the VFL practice game the week before (Round 1) and showed my attack on the footy and I think Brad Scott and the coaching staff wanted that in the side,” Anderson told North Media's "In Review" podcast.

“I know that that is what I can produce and what I can provide for the team, so I’m happy to do that.”

As courageous as they come, Anderson played a career-high 21 games only missing Round 12 with a minor hamstring complaint.

“I had a good pre-season and the body was feeling good coming into Round 1 and we just built from there,” he said.

“It’s a credit to the physio and fitness staff for getting me right to be able to play each week.

“I just needed to get the continuity with my body and learn more about how I adapt to playing and training each week.

“The confidence to play good footy was always there, and I love playing in the midfield and being in and around the contest with Shaun Higgins, Ben Cunnington and Todd Goldstein.”

Having managed just 25 games in his past four seasons, the hard-nosed midfielder is now one of the first picked in North's side.

Although the season has just finished, he's already plotting his off-season training program.

“I’ll go away and talk with Jona Segal (High Performance Manager) and his team and set my pre-season up and go from there.

“There’s discussions now with Jona and the team to see what camps we are doing.

“We may potentially go over to Utah again for the backend of the four weeks the other boys are spending over there, but I’ll sort that out with my wife Nicky (wife) and Jona.”

Listen to Jed Anderson's 'In Review' here: