North Melbourne has secured another one of its impressive youngsters with Ryan Bastinac signing until at least the end of the 2017 season.



The 22-year-old says there is nowhere else he would rather be than Arden Street.



"There was never any doubt in my mind (about re-signing). I've always wanted to be a one club player, that's been my goal ever since I first got drafted, so I'll be here for a long time hopefully," Bastinac told NMFC.com.au.



"I'm very excited. It's been a pretty tough year, but to sign for three years at a great club with great team-mates, I'm really rapt.



"North is home for me, coming into the club every day to hang out with all your mates, it can't get much better than that."



Bastinac has had some challenges in 2014. Struggling to find form, he has worn the sub vest in North's past two matches.



"It's been really hard, I'd never been the sub before but it was just something I had to deal with. It's a team game and I had to play that role for those two weeks. No one likes to be the sub but someone's got to do it. It was really challenging but I think it's been better for me to go through something like that."



The midfielder has taken the role in his stride, concentrating on the positives.



"I've started on the bench a few times anyway in a normal game and you're still in the zone, you know you're going to come on in a couple of minutes. But when you're the sub, you can actually watch the game properly and you almost feel like a supporter, you're watching everything unfold from the sidelines. You never know when you're going to come on as a sub and when you do you want to come on have a significant impact."



Despite the ups and downs of the season so far, Bastinac remains confident in his ability to return to his best. Against the Cats, he was brilliant with 15 possessions and two goals in a little more than a quarter of game-time.



"Hopefully the weekend against Geelong kick-started my season off again because I haven't been happy with how I've been going this year, so to get some confidence out of my second half against the Cats, I was really happy and hopefully I can finish the rest of the year off well," Bastinac said.



"I want to be an elite midfielder, an elite player for the club and do my best for the team. Whatever they want me to do I'll do it. I've got really close people around me who support me all the way so when times get tough, like it has for some parts of this year you've always got the backing of them and the support to get through anything."



Individual form aside, Bastinac is focused on the team's improvement.



"I think it's just been our starts in games that have really hurt us. When the opposition get four of five goals in front, it's hard to come back and win from that, we've made it pretty hard for ourselves. But I know with the boys we've got we can match it with anyone and we're going to be good. It's about bridging the gap between out bad performances and our good performances. "

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