It might not be the performance that fetches Brownlow votes, or makes it onto the highlight reel, but Trent Dumont’s tagging role on Jack Steven went a long way towards winning Saturday night’s game.

The Saints’ onballer boasted 39 and 41-disposal outings in the space of the previous three weeks, but Dumont restricted Steven to just 21 touches.

Sitting just outside the top ten for clearances through the season so far, Steven finished with a season-low of three.

“I was pretty pleased and the boys appreciated it as well,” Dumont said of his all-important role.

“He’s (Steven) going really well at the moment; I think his last month’s been up there with the best in the comp for ranking points, so to nullify him was good.

“I watched a fair bit of vision from his last game. He had 46 touches. I just looked at how he went about getting it most of the time, sat down with Jarred Moore (midfield coach), Scotty (Brad Scott) and Drummo (stoppages coach) and they talked about what they expected of me. It was just then going out there and executing it.”

Dumont didn’t rack up high numbers, with 16 disposals, but kicked the vital first goal of the game to get the ball rolling for his team.

In a milestone as significant as Brent Harvey’s record-breaking game, he was delighted to play his role in the victory.

“I didn’t want to let anyone down on such a big night. I’ve just got to take that mindset into every game from now on,” Dumont said.

Watching the achievements of Harvey only spurs the youngster further.

“It’s amazing. I don’t think I really thought about how many games it was until the day before when we were training and preparing for the match,” Dumont added.

“I just looked at him (Harvey) and thought ‘I haven’t even played 427 games in my life yet’, so to play that many at the top level is incredible.”

Focus quickly turns to Saturday night, and another must-win clash against the Bulldogs.

For Dumont, another run-with job isn’t out of the question, but the 21-year-old is happy to play whatever role will keep him in the side.

“The coach comes to me each week with a different sort of role and I’ll just try and play it to the best of my ability,” he said.

North’s strong contingent of contested-type midfielders has made it hard for Dumont to secure a regular place in the 22.

With his longest run in the senior team just six games, in 2015, continuity is the key.

“It’s good fun for starters. Obviously I want to be playing at the highest level as much as possible, to improve and grow my game,” Dumont said.

“The more I can play my role games wise, the better.”