Forward Ben Brown is beginning to reap the fruits of his hard work as he prepares for a milestone match this Friday night but says there is still plenty for him to learn.

The 23-year-old notches his 50th game when North takes on Collingwood at Etihad Stadium on the back of his solid three-goal, 16-possession game against Port Adelaide last week.

Brown said he had matured greatly since joining the Roos at pick No.47 in the 2013 national draft, but added no milestone could ever compare to that of Brent Harvey's.

"I suppose it's something I didn't imagine a few years ago that I'd come up to a milestone," Brown told NMFC.com.au on Wednesday.

"You look at someone like 'Boomer', who's coming up and equalling the games record this weekend, so 50 games pales into insignificance.

"I knew how hard it was to get here, so early on I said to myself that I wanted to make sure I made the most of the opportunity and to this stage, I think I can say I've done that, but the hard work doesn't stop."

At the mid-point of the season, Brown garnered praise from forwards coach Leigh Tudor for showing improvements in his contested marking and goalkicking ability.

Brown proved his worth in attack against the Power by latching onto an equal game-high two contested marks (match-high 10 marks in total), and is ranked equal third in the competition in that area with West Coast's Jeremy McGovern (38 marks), behind GWS's Rory Lobb (42) and Gold Coast's Tom Lynch (45).

The 200cm tall target, who leads North's goalkicking tally with 30 majors, said positioning himself well in marking contests was one of his major focus areas.

"Marking was a big thing from the finals series last year that I was disappointed with and I've really tried to improve that," Brown said.

"I'm looking to fight harder to get into good positions and that's something I've taken from Drew (Petrie) this year – trying to provide a contest, get the ball to ground or mark it."

While Brown and McGovern share the same number of contested marks leading into round 18, the pair also shared a light-hearted moment during the final quarter at Domain Stadium a fortnight ago.

Brown had a wry smile after his quick-thinking snap from the boundary line miraculously went through as McGovern put him off balance, earning the Roo the goal of the year nomination for that round.

The 49-gamer said the Eagles' backman could not help but grin and give him a friendly pat on the back after the goal.

"McGovern leant over and said, 'Great goal, mate', so I had a bit of a laugh at that," Brown said.

"I was in line with all of the posts so I couldn't really see when it went through by the time I got tackled out of bounds by him.

"I had a quick look inside to see if there was anyone to pass it to and when I saw there wasn't I thought I'd have a bit of a ping, and it came off."