NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott has encouraged Daniel Pratt to rediscover the aggression that made him such an important member of the club's backline in 2007 and 2008.

Pratt was North's best rebounding defender in those seasons - short-listed for All-Australian selection last year - but injuries and poor form limited him to 14 games in 2009.

By his own admission his approach also softened, while being dropped for the last two games of the season proved a wake-up call.

"Sometimes you just need it to really get that determination back, which I probably lacked a bit of last year," he said.

"I think the supporters got frustrated with me as well from that point of view."

It has occasionally seen him fall foul of the tribunal, but Pratt understands how damaging he can be when he puts his anger to good use.

"I was playing my best footy when I was aggressive and really pushing things to the limit on the field and finding the right balance with that," he said.

"Getting the anger back that helps me play my best footy … I'm really looking forward to it. I feel like I got it back after a couple of training sessions."

It's an attitude not lost on Scott, who was one of the competition's hard men when Pratt was at the Brisbane Lions in 2003 and 2004.

Pratt played three games for the Lions in between his two stints at North and said he learnt a lot from Scott and his twin brother, Chris.

"He was a fantastic role model," Pratt said of Scott. "He was one of those guys who did everything right and explored new ways to do things in professionalism.

"I'm assuming he's going to bring that to the club, which he already has in some respects. It's really exciting.

"He was really good to me at Brisbane, as was his brother. Hopefully if I can keep doing the right things and perform when it matters, I can find a spot in the side."

Running and weights sessions throughout October - many of them on his own - have allowed Pratt to get a jump on his teammates that he once wouldn't have looked for.

That sometimes lackadaisical approach was recently addressed by Scott, chief of football Donald McDonald and strength and conditioning coach Paul Turk.

"I got a pretty stern talking to at the end of last [season] about my attitude towards pre-season - not that it was poor; it just wasn't the best," Pratt said.

"It (the feedback) was more from footy admin but you get passing comments from people higher up as well. Eventually it's got to sink in with more than one person saying it.

"Brad came on board, we had our meeting and he laid a few things on the table of what he thought.

"I'm glad they spoke to me because I feel like I've come straight back into it."

Pratt said his strength was close to where it was in 2007, the breakout season that also saw him finish third in the Roos' best and fairest count.