Shaun Higgins has credited a move to the midfield for his rapid rise in 2017, which culminated in his first Syd Barker Medal win on Friday night.

Higgins took out the coveted award ahead of Ben Cunnington and Ben Brown, admitting it came as a bit of a surprise.

“I’m in shock to be honest,” Higgins told NMFC.com.au after accepting the medal.

“I knew that it would be a tight race and I knew that my year had been relatively consistent, but by no means had I thought I’d win.”

Higgins enjoyed the most consistent season of his career, with his ability to break the lines and hit the scoreboard making him one of the league’s more dynamic on-ballers.

“It was something that we probably flagged a couple of years ago and unfortunately last year, I had a knee operation that didn't allow me to play through the midfield," he told AFL.com.au.

"Then we spent a lot of time over the pre-season learning that role and I spent countless hours annoying the assistant coaches to make sure that I could be equipped to play through the midfield, doing a lot of video work. The coaches were great in allowing me to play to my strengths, so that was through the whole pre-season.

"Throughout the year, it's just been learning week-to-week how to go about it and I've played for 12 years - I felt like I was kicking off a new career playing in the midfield."

Having arrived at North as a free agent at the end of 2014, Higgins has excelled at his new home.

“I’ve loved my time here (at North). It’s been by far the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me in my footy career,” he said.

“I owe a lot to the footy club and a lot to Scotty (Brad Scott) for showing faith in a time that was probably a little bit dicey in my footy career.

“This (the medal) caps off something pretty special, because I never dreamt that this would happen. It’s exciting.”

Higgins joins the likes of Robbie Tarrant, Todd Goldstein, Ben Cunnington and Andrew Swallow to have won the award in recent years.

“To be honest I don’t think it will sink in, because there’s such a rich history at this footy club,” he added.

“You look at the list of winners in the past and it’s also embarrassing to think I sit alongside those guys at the footy club.

“It’s a great footy club. I’ve loved every minute of being here, and I owe them a lot.”