North Melbourne believes it has found the right player to fill a hole in the coming years with Jasper Pittard a surprise trade from Port Adelaide on Wednesday.

“We’ve always been looking through this period for a half-back flanker, a guy who can run and carry and kick the footy,” North GM Football Cameron Joyce said.

“It was something that we identified as a little bit of a weakness in our list.

“We’ve obviously spoken to a few players to try and fit that bill, and we think if we can get Jasper back to the form of a couple of years ago when he was in the All-Australian 40-man squad, then we think he can can be a handy player for us.”

Sydney’s Nic Newman and GWS’ Jeremy Finlayson were also linked to Arden Street, but Pittard’s acquisition makes those moves unlikely.

“It probably makes (getting in) some of the players that we’d spoken too more challenging now,” he said.

27-year-old Pittard has long been on North’s radar according to Joyce.

“We’ve certainly spoken about him for a little while,” Joyce said.

“We were interested to a point a couple of years ago.”

Pittard joins the Roos in a package deal along with Jared Polec and pick 48, in exchange for pick 11 and a future fourth-round selection.