TODD Goldstein describes himself as a quiet person, who enjoys relaxing and tries not to take things too seriously. But he is also a driven individual. Someone who embraces a challenge. Someone who is constantly seeking to improve, both as a footballer and a person.

At the start of this season, Goldstein knew he would have to carry North Melbourne's ruck division for most of the year, with the Kangaroos' No. 1 ruckman, Hamish McIntosh, ruled out indefinitely after two Achilles tendon surgeries.

At the time, Goldstein had played 37 games in four seasons, nearly all as a support ruckman to McIntosh.

The AFL Record spoke to him on the eve of the season when he was eyeing match-ups with West Coast's Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui, Collingwood's Darren Jolly and Fremantle's Aaron Sandilands in North's first three games.
 
Goldstein was fully aware Cox, Sandilands and Jolly had long been three of the AFL's best ruckmen and that Naitanui was one of its most freakish talents, but he welcomed the challenge each presented.

"It's a good opportunity and hopefully I can keep the spot warm until 'H' (McIntosh) is back and we can work together again," Goldstein said at the time.

Goldstein has done much more than keep McIntosh's seat warm. After a bout of gastro forced him to miss North's opening game against the Eagles, Goldstein, 23, has since stamped himself as one of the best young ruckmen in the competition.

Despite occasional ankle niggles, he has consistently been among North's best players, shouldering the vast majority of the team's ruck work, with occasional relief from Drew Petrie and Cameron Pedersen.

After round 18, Goldstein led the competition in hit-outs. In an example of just how much he has improved this season, he has had 586 hit-outs in 16 games in 2011—36.6 a game—which is more than he had in his 37 previous games (575).

He has also averaged nearly 14 disposals a game and is ranked fourth at North in total contested possessions (139, at an average of 8.7 a game) and, remarkably for a ruckman, is fourth in tackles (70).

Although Daniel Wells, captain Brent Harvey and Petrie are enjoying outstanding seasons,if Goldstein maintains his form, don't be surprised if he seriously challenges them in North's best and fairest count.

And, although Cox would seem to have the No. 1 ruck position in the 2011 All Australian team sewn up, Sandilands' injury plagued season means Goldstein would be among the leading contenders if a second ruckman is chosen.
 
The AFL Record caught up with Goldstein again last week. When we met outside North's gym at its Aegis Park headquarters, Goldstein was armed with two slices of extra-thick raisin toast, explaining he had to fit in a snack before training that afternoon.

We then made our way upstairs to a meeting room, where we spoke for half an hour. In that setting, Goldstein was quietly-spoken, but at ease talking about everything from football, basketball, parenthood to—yes—raisin toast.

"Sometimes I could eat a whole packet of the stuff," he said.

Goldstein was adamant his remarkable improvement this year was not an overnight occurrence, but the result of nearly five years' hard work with North's coaching and fitness staff.

He also said the birth of his and partner Kirsty's first child, daughter Olivia, in November last year - she was born on the day the rest of the team flew back from the club's high-altitude training camp in Utah - had brought him not only an equal mix of joy and chaos, but also added maturity and perspective.

But Goldstein acknowledged McIntosh's absence this season had undoubtedly fast-tracked his development.

"It's given me that responsibility I haven't had before," Goldstein said.

"Hamish has been our premier ruckman and was almost All Australian a couple of years ago. He's also been someone who's been great to learn from. I watched how he carried himself when he was virtually the lone ruckman, with Drew Petrie giving him a chop out.

"But being given that responsibility, you can either step up and help out the team or you can be a passenger. I'm glad I've been able to help out and play my role."

But although Goldstein is satisfied with his development this season, he is aware he still has plenty of room for improvement. There is an understated intensity about him when he talks about it.

It is also obvious he sets himself high standards.

When we asked about the area of his game he most needed to improve, he did not hesitate to nominate his kicking.

"Really?" we asked. Two or three times. We had watched Goldstein closely this season and, as far as we could tell, his kicking was one of his strengths.

Two days later, in the final quarter of the win against the Brisbane Lions, we watched him kick a 60m pass that pin-pointed Daniel Wells on the goal line - the midfielder could also have let it go through for a goal.

We also subsequently asked former North recruiting manager Neville Stibbard whether he and his then-offsider Bryce Lewis had any concerns about Goldstein's kicking before they selected him with pick No. 37 in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft.

When Stibbard and Lewis first watched Goldstein play for Trinity Grammar School in Melbourne's inner east, he was more focused on a promising basketball career. (Later that year, he was selected in the under-19 Australian squad for the Albert Schweitzer Tournament, the most prestigious under-age tournament outside the FIBA Under-19 World Championship.)

Goldstein had been turning up to Trinity football training for only about a year at the time. He had been playing school football since year seven, but only because he was required to play a winter sport.

But Stibbard, now Greater Western Sydney's recruiting coordinator, told the Record he and Lewis didn't see any problems with Goldstein's kicking.

"We thought his approach, the way he held the footy and the way he kicked it, looked quite natural. It was as though he'd been kicking the ball for years," Stibbard said.

Still, Goldstein is adamant his kicking requires constant work.
 
"It's something that has still got a long way to go to get to the level where I want it," Goldstein said.

"It's something I always need to keep working on because it doesn't quite come naturally. Because of my basketball background, I haven't really done that much kicking growing up and, if I drop off with my work on it, my kicking can really drop off as well."

Another area Goldstein said had not come naturally to him on the football field was aggression.

But, again, it is something he is working on, with the aid of North ruck coach Alex Ishchenko.

For anyone looking to add aggression to their game, Ishchenko is your man. The former West Coast, Brisbane Bears and North ruckman's playing style was robust, and Goldstein said they had been focusing heavily on improving his follow-up efforts after ruck contests.

Playing in the ruck means you have to deal with a wide variety of opponents, ranging from the human skyscraper Sandilands (211cm) - Goldstein is 201cm - to the freakishly athletic Naitanui (201cm).

But it is a sign of Goldstein's growing confidence that he no longer focuses too intently on his coming opponents.

"You obviously know what they like to do, but I worry a lot more about what I'm doing and the positions I'm getting myself into," he said.

"Because even though there are very different ruckmen, you can bring a lot of similar techniques against them all.

"One of the things I've learned from (North coach) Brad (Scott) is to get myself right first and then have an understanding of what the opposition is going to do. Because if I carry out what I need to do, it shouldn't matter too much what my opponent does."

Goldstein's appetite for a challenge, and his ability to rise to one, is not a new thing.

He said part of the reason behind his decision to pursue a career in football over basketball was because he had achieved his goals in the indoor sport - representing Victoria and winning the national championships - and he had also travelled to the United States with a junior side.

"I probably thought it was time for the next chapter," he said.

"I enjoyed footy and loved my time at the Oakleigh Chargers and it definitely helped winning the (TAC Cup) premiership down there.

"Trinity played a big part in me starting to enjoy my footy, too. In the end, I was just enjoying my footy a lot more."

Goldstein is now a key player in an emerging North midfield that is fast proving the club's on-ball division consists of more than just Harvey and Wells.

Andrew Swallow has established himself as an integral part of this unit over the past two seasons, and Jack Ziebell, Leigh Adams, Levi Greenwood and Ryan Bastinac are fast becoming midfield mainstays too. Fellow youngsters, including Ben Cunnington, Ben Speight and Shaun Atley, have also shown encouraging signs this season.

With McIntosh sidelined for virtually all of the 2011 pre-season, Goldstein got to work almost exclusively with North's midfielders during stoppage drills and match practice. He said that time helped him build a better understanding with the teammates who work at his feet.

This has been reflected in Goldstein's ability to find his midfielders with hit-outs this season. According to Champion Data's statistics before round 18, he was ranked second in the competition for average hit-outs to advantage (9.3 a game, behind Melbourne's Mark Jamar) and fifth of the AFL's top 20 ruckmen for percentage hit-outs to advantage, with 25.6 per cent of his taps going to a teammate's advantage.

After North's win against the Lions, Bastinac told the Record roving to Goldstein was "unbelievable".

"You know you're going to get first hands on the ball with Toddy in the ruck," Bastinac said. "He's in All-Australian form, I reckon."

Typically, Goldstein refuses to let himself get carried away by talk of All Australian selection or the progression of North's midfield.

"We're still a pretty young group so we've still got a long way to go. But the more you play together the more you understand each other's little characteristics and habits," he said.

Goldstein's 2011 form has created one problem for North, though, with Scott recently conceding it is now unclear whether there is still room for McIntosh in the team.

Although North played both ruckmen whenever they were available last season, Scott acknowledged last week only West Coast and Carlton had been able to consistently play two ruckmen since the introduction of the substitute rule in 2011.
 
Now that McIntosh has played four matches in the VFL and is approaching full fitness, Scott says North faces a tough call soon.

But Goldstein has no doubt he and McIntosh can pick up where they left off last year.

"I've got no reason to think we can't make it work," he said.

"I thought we worked pretty well last year and we were probably still learning how to play with each other, so we can still improve.

"I think we can both go forward and have a bit of an impact there as well. It definitely helps having another string to your bow."

Outside of football, Goldstein likes to challenge himself,too. However, he is realistic enough to know when he has got enough on his plate.

So, although he was keen to start preparing himself for life after football by starting a degree in journalism or teaching, he wisely anticipated football and learning more about parenthood would punctuate his 2011 with more than enough challenges.

In 2012, Goldstein says he will be ready to start those studies. 
 
But, for now, Goldstein is focused on helping North finish its 2011 season strongly. In particular, he is hoping that playing finals is one of the next challenges he faces.

"I haven't even played a final yet and that is one thing I want to change," he said. "If not this year, then definitely next."

Basketball's loss was football's gain

Former North Melbourne recruiting manager Neville Stibbard was convinced Todd Goldstein had what it took to make it in the AFL soon after watching him play for the first time.

Stibbard told the AFL Record he was attracted to that Trinity Grammar game in Bulleen in 2006 as much for the complimentary afternoon tea as the football, but said he and fellow North recruiting officer Bryce Lewis were instantly impressed watching Goldstein in action.

"His ability to palm the ball and his ability to move through traffic was transferred from the basketball court," Stibbard said. Despite his basketball background, Stibbard said Goldstein's kicking appeared natural (see main story). In fact, Stibbard had just one concern - Goldstein was overweight.

Although other recruiters might have been put off by Goldstein's "terrible" 12.5 beep test at a state draft screening session later that year, Stibbard and Lewis thought it was a reflection of his poor conditioning rather than a poor aerobic capacity.

"Bryce and I followed him very, very closely every week after we first saw him and we were quite confident he could be a player if we got him fit," Stibbard said.

Stibbard and Lewis had originally planned to select Goldstein with North's last pick in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft or as a rookie.

But when pick 37 came around, they decided he was too good to risk losing.

We'll never know whether another club would have snatched Goldstein from North's grasp if it had not pounced so soon. But we do know Stibbard and Lewis' assessment of him has proved to be spot on.

This article first appeared in the AFL Record

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs