The Kangaroos this week won the race for the signatures of former Collingwood football manager Geoff Walsh (as director of football) and Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling (leadership consultant).
They have also signed Leigh Tudor as a senior assistant coach, pending the result of his bid for the interim coaching position at Essendon.
North Melbourne CEO Carl Dilena said the financial cost of the trio was "not over the top" for the traditionally cash-strapped club.
"We're very prudent. We've probably been the lowest spending club in the AFL over the last 20 years in (terms of our) football department.
“As we've grown our business, and we've done some significant fundraising this year as well, we're still being prudent in what we spend," Dilena told reporters at Aegis Park on Wednesday.
"It's very targeted … and we've had a couple of departures as well, so the nett difference isn’t significant."
Dilena said Tudor would help the Roos improve their defensive skills, an area he admitted had let the club down this year.
"Leigh has a fantastic grounding in defensive team structures, having been at St Kilda and Sydney as well.
“That was a primary focus: getting in a senior assistant with those sorts of skills, who could really fix some of our deficiencies from this year," he said.
Ling will take on a one-day a week role in which he will assist the club's leadership development program.
Dilena joked that Ling's open access to the Roos' rooms with Channel Seven during their round 11 clash with Gold Coast at Carrara was part of the club's strategy to "condition his subconscious to the North Melbourne way".
More seriously, Dilena admitted that introductions and lasting impressions were made that night.
"Everyone wanted Cameron, everyone wanted Geoff Walsh. We're just really delighted that we've been able to convince them to come and join North Melbourne, which I think says a lot for where the club's at," he said.
Meanwhile, Dilena said North's bid to manufacture a trade for St Kilda veteran Nick Dal Santo had become "a little bit of a stalemate".
"We've put forward our offer, which we think is a good offer. St Kilda's thinking about it and we'll know in due course (over) the next couple of weeks. It could drag out a little bit," he said.
Asked whether North was frustrated by the impasse, Dilena replied: "Not specifically. All negotiations can get frustrating (when) you can’t come to an agreement. But those things you work through. Hopefully they can make up their mind on what they want to do and we move forward."
The Kangaroos hosted the launch of the 'Gambling's not a game' youth program, run by the club's new official partner, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. North Melbourne became the first AFL club to sign the Responsible Gambling Charter.
Also present was Ian Robson, the former Essendon CEO and current chief of A-League soccer club Melbourne Victory (a partner in the campaign), but he declined to speak to the media.
Twitter: @AFL_BenCollins
