Brendan Whitecross believes he can share his experiences and learnings to help develop North Melbourne’s young brigade.

The former Hawk, who was appointed as a development coach and VFL player at Arden Street earlier this month, has already hit the ground running since beginning work on Monday.

“I’ve been appointed in a development role, so working a lot with the one-to-four-year players and pretty closely with the forwards in that category, as well as playing in the VFL side myself.” Whitecross told North Media.

“It’s pretty handy from my point of view to be able to develop my craft as a coach, but also be able to implement it out on the ground with the younger guys and be on the field to talk them through it at times.

“I’m pretty excited.”

Drafted to Hawthorn in 2007, Whitecross was part of one of the most successful dynasties in modern football, with the Hawks winning four premierships in just eight years.

His experiences affording the former forward a wealth of knowledge which he now wants to pass on.

“I think the one thing the Hawks have done over the years very, very well is that they’re very particular about how they do things, whether it be a structure, a setup, a running pattern or how to live an elite lifestyle, how you treat your body off-field and what you do away from the club,” he said.

“I think that’s the one thing that I noticed at the Hawks over 11 years, they focused on that pretty heavily.

“I hope to pass on those bits of information to the younger players and help develop them as elite athletes.”

The 28-year-old has been forced to overcome serious adversity during his career, suffering two ACL injuries in consecutive finals campaigns in 2012 and 2013.

With the likes of Paul Ahern overcoming similar troubles, and the likes of Declan Watson, Will Walker and Ed Vickers-Willis on the mend from respective knee injuries, Whitecross can guide them through.

“The things I’ve learnt from my journey is being able to build my resilience and mental side of footy, which is something that I’ll really bring to this group and pass on a bit of knowledge in that area,” he said.

“I’ll certainly give (the injured players) a lot of advice along the way because there’s nothing worse than spending time on the sideline through injury, especially long term injuries.

Whitecross has already been taken aback by the work-rate and talent of the young players who have commenced their pre-season training.

“They certainly didn’t hold back, it was pretty physical, they were straight into it and there’s certainly a lot of guys there that’s got some really good talent, and I’m really looking forward to being able to work with them and develop them as players with their mental side to the game as well as their skills and attributes.

“First impressions are really good, and it’s got me excited about where they can go in the next 12 months.”

Listen to the full interview with Brendan Whitecross here: