David Hale knows he must be a more consistent contributor for North Melbourne - but it continues to be a struggle.

Two years ago after 11 rounds, Hale admitted his form had been up and down.

"I put together a couple of good games and then have a couple of flatter games," he said back then.

Fast-forward two years and the goal of maintaining a steady form-line is yet to be fulfilled.

The 201cm Queenslander, who is in his sixth season in the AFL after being taken at No.7 by the Kangaroos in the 2001 super draft, has only maximised his talent in two games this season.

He had 16 possessions, 10 marks, 12 hitouts, four tackles and booted three goals against West Coast in round eight at Carrara and had another 16 touches, eight marks, 14 hitouts and kicked four goals against Geelong last Friday night.

Hales inability to perform on a regular basis was the reason behind coach Dean Laidley's refusal to praise the 24-year-old's effort in his post-match media conference following the Cats game.

"I'm not going to give David any plaudits tonight. He played a good game of football," Laidley said.

"All we want him to do is compete aggressively and he did that tonight.

"Once he did that his talent came to the fore and it was a terrific game of football.

"But it's been a bit inconsistent for our liking and he needs to continue to build on that."

Hale said he was not alarmed by Laidley's comments and admitted he speaks to the coach about the challenge of performing every week.

"I wasn't surprised by it," Hale said about Laidley's frank assessment.

"The consistency stuff is something we focus on a great deal. It's probably gotten better this year but it's still a bit up and down.

"With the time I've been here, its taken a while (to show my talent) because as they say as a ruckman it takes a bit longer.

"But I feel confident in my body now that I've got the work behind me to be able to perform consistently on that weekly basis.

"As Dean said, it's time to take that next step - it,s time to put in that performance (against Geelong) every couple of weeks and not once every year."

With forwards Corey Jones and Nathan Thompson out for Saturday's clash with Fremantle at Subiaco, Hale knows he will again have to push into attack and provide a target.

But he also sees the move as a good tactic to quell the dominance of in-form Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands.

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