LIKE many North Melbourne supporters, emerging forward Michael Wundke can't wait to see teammate Aaron Edwards return to the field.

Edwards is serving a club-imposed suspension for an Australia Day traffic incident, ruling him out of the NAB Cup competition and the first four games of the home and away season in both the AFL and VFL.

He was allowed to play in last Thursday's intra-club scratch match and dominated the final term with four goals – three from contested marks.

Playing for SANFL club North Adelaide in 2007, Wundke modelled his game on the strong-marking Edwards who was proving a valuable recruit in North's run to the preliminary finals.

That December, Wundke was rookie-listed by the Roos and went on to kick 45 goals for VFL premier North Ballarat.

But he now has the opportunity to play alongside Edwards after earning elevation to the senior list.

"When I watched him in '07 ... I did see a bit of myself in him," Wundke said. "We're similar weights, similar builds and have a similar running capacity.

"Obviously I didn't know those things before I got here but I do model myself [on him]. He's got great hands and a great leap as well, which I don't have but I'm working on."

After North's end-of-season trip, Wundke returned to Adelaide to freshen up and get a head-start on the track, realising the need to work harder than some of his other teammates.

"I haven't been blessed with the fitness of Lachie Hansen or someone like that," he said, adding that coach Dean Laidley had told him at that stage there was a slight chance he'd be elevated.

"I didn't put too high hopes on it. I just wanted to train when I went back to Adelaide and I wanted to keep fit and keep in good nick. I think I did that and came back and set a good platform to launch into this year."

The Roos obviously see similarities between Wundke and Edwards too.

Wundke has been putting hours into leg weights and the speed and jumps group. Assistant coach Darren Bewick has also been grooming the 20-year-old in a lead-up, linking role outside 50 – a position Edwards was just putting the shine on before breaking his leg in round six last year.

"[Last year] we saw a fair bit of him (Wundke) and he seems to read the ball pretty well," Bewick said. "He leads to the right spots.

"One thing about him is he only has to have four or five opportunities and he'll kick four or five goals. He's a beautiful kick."

Wundke is enjoying his fortunes after a broken leg crushed his plans to represent South Australia in the 2006 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.

"Down in the dumps", he sought opportunities with North Adelaide and in 13 games tried to be more than just a target deep in attack.

"Back then I was just a full-forward," he said. "I didn’t have the engine to get up around half-forward and lead up. I've got a bit of that now and I'm still working hard at it."

With the support of Edwards and assigned mentor Corey Jones, Wundke hopes to earn NAB Cup selection and a season's start at either level.

"I will be a bit disappointed [if I don't get selected for the NAB Cup] because it was one of my goals," he said.

"I'd love to play full stop, but definitely [with] Aaron who's proved in his 20-odd games for the club that he's a good player.

"I look up to him quite a bit and he helps me out. We often train together in the forward structure and I think we work very well together. I can't wait."