NORTH Melbourne’s premiership window will extend beyond 2016, according to forward Shaun Higgins.

The Kangaroos have played in consecutive preliminary finals despite finishing outside the top four in both seasons, emerging from the shadows on successive occasions.

Veterans Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Nick Dal Santo, Michael Firrito and Jarrad Waite were all key cogs in the club’s 2015 September surge, but for how much longer can they shoulder the bulk of the responsibility at Arden Street?

It’s become a perennial question in recent times given North’s ageing list. No club has more players aged over 30.

Round 18

Yet Higgins, who finished third in North’s 2015 best and fairest, said concerns over the club’s premiership window were unfounded.

“I don’t think our list is solely do or die this year,” Higgins told SEN.

“We’re really confident in the way we play and with the list we put together, that it is not just a short-term thing.”

North Melbourne poached Jed Anderson, 21, from Hawthorn and picked Farren Ray, 29, off the scrap heap as a rookie this summer.

Anderson is largely an investment for the future. While Ray, having played more than 200 games at the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda, is a product for the here and now.

And with seven players aged 30 or older by the time Round 1 rolls around, a changing of the guard is inevitable at Arden Street.

Yet it could be argued the evolution is already in full swing, with four out of last year’s top five in the best and fairest either entering or in the prime of their careers. Only two of the players aged 30 and over finished in the top 10 in last year’s Syd Barker Medal (Harvey fourth, Petrie eighth).

North Melbourne's Shaun Higgins and Brent Harvey celebrate on the final siren. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: News Corp Australia

List expert Chris Pelchen, the man behind Hawthorn’s fruitful drafting strategy in the mid 2000s, shares Higgins’s optimism.

“The Kangaroos’ likely opportunity for success is between now and 2018, but more likely this year and next year,” Pelchen told Fox Footy.

“While they do have enough mid-age players, their decision to accelerate the top end of their list bodes well for the short term.

“There is enough talent there, even if Brent Harvey and Drew Petrie retire, to sustain it for the 2017 season.”

Meanwhile, former leadership group member Daniel Wells is on track to make his long-awaited return to football following two injury-ravaged seasons, according to Higgins.

“I expect him (Wells) to play this year and play high quality football,” the 27-year-old said.

“Every time he’s out on the track he shows us he’s still got it. It’s just a matter of getting his body where it needs to be so he’s able to perform.

“He’s building nicely.”

At 30 and having played just 12 games in two years, Wells is out to extend his time beyond 2016 - not unlike his club.

Clubs with players aged 30 or over (As of February 1, 2016):

North Melbourne: 6

Fremantle, Western Bulldogs: 5

St Kilda, Geelong, Hawthorn: 4

Gold Coast, GWS, Sydney, Essendon*: 3

West Coast: 2

Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Richmond: 1

* Not including top-up players Ryan Crowley, Matthew Stokes and James Kelly.

@tommorris32