With pace and excellent decision-making with ball in hand, it's no surprise that rookie draftee Blake Drury has been shifted to the backline.

Drury mostly ran through the midfield and forward line throughout his time with the Oakleigh Chargers in the NAB League, but has been given the opportunity by North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson to exhibit his array of skills coming out of defence this pre-season.

"I sort of played across all three lines in my junior career, but yeah, I thought I was going to come in and play as a forward but I'm certainly loving the move down back," Drury revealed to North Media.

Although he isn't completely new to being a rebounding defender, Drury says the assistance he's received from his teammates so far regarding the position shift has been tremendous.

"Lukey McDonald has been awesome for me, he's come up and done some vision with me and helped me with my running patterns," Drury mentioned.

"Aaron Hall as well, he's been great.

"All the boys have been really welcoming and are making the adjustment easy."

Post-Christmas break, Drury has been impressing coaches and the gathering fans during match simulations and general training at Arden Street, firmly putting his hand up for a potential Round 1 selection.

Despite his promising, early impact, Drury remains focused on the short-term and doing what he can to benefit the team through the week.

"I'm just taking it day by day at the moment," Drury said.

"I'd certainly like to play as early as I can and contribute to the team pretty early, but like I said I'm just trying to take it day by day, learn the new game style and just nail my role."