Lachlan Hansen Biography

North Melbourne's Lachie Hansen believes a settled defence means he can now pinch-hit a lot more in attack after having to replace the injured Ben Warren against the Bulldogs in the forward lines.

"I hadn't really trained as a forward before. I was going to play down back, just helping out the backline on the weekend," Hansen said.

"It was a bit different and it took a while for me to get into the game but I had a couple of shots on goal and started to get a feeling for what it is like to be up forward and it wasn't too bad.

"It's a different role but I had a bit more freedom to run around and go for my marks and stuff.

"I quite enjoyed it so hopefully I get another go next week, after I train up a bit more and learn some leading patterns and stuff."

Gavin Urquhart, Lachlan Hansen and Nathan Grima have all signed new deals that will keep them at North Melbourne.

Queensland native Gavin Urquhart, in particular, will be kept safe from the new Gold Coast franchise.