It's a big call. But when it's North coach Brad Scott making it, you'd be silly to dismiss it out of hand.
The player in question is Leigh Adams. And after he was one of North's best players in its NAB Challenge loss to Hawthorn last Saturday, Scott spoke emphatically about Adams' value to the Kangaroos side.
"We've always rated him really highly. He came fourth in our best and fairest last year and he missed seven games, so he was a vitally important member of our squad," Scott said
"And he's had an even better pre-season this year. He looks a really seasoned AFL player now."
Scott suggested Adams may have flown under the wider football community's radar because of the injuries he's suffered since he was selected by North in the 2007 NAB AFL Rookie Draft.
A ruptured anterior cruciate ligament early in 2008 sidelined him for 12 months, while he has also been hit by shoulder, thumb and hamstring problems.
And in December he had minor surgery to fix a heart condition, supraventricular tachycardia, which caused his heart rate to soar at moments of extreme exertion.
Adams told kangaroos.com.au on Wednesday he had made a speedy recovery from his surgery - he missed only a week of pre-season training - and now had the self-belief to repay Scott's faith.
"Getting a good run with injury last season, I started to believe in myself a little bit more," Adams said.
"The more games I played the more I felt I belonged at the level."
Adams knows that moving from the midfield/forward role he played last year to a key on-ball role will require good endurance; especially given the aerobic demands on midfielders are expected to increase this year with the introduction of the new bench of three interchange players and one substitute.
While he acknowledges his fitness may have held him back from spending more time in the midfield in the past, he is confident he's now developed the endurance he'll need.
Adams is also confident about the prospects of North's young side this year.
Several times during our interview he mentions - without prompting - the North players' desire to be more competitive against the competition's top-four sides in 2011.
He said when injured players such as Nathan Grima, Hamish McIntosh, Levi Greenwood and Ryan Bastinac returned to the field (most early in 2011), he was confident the talent ran deep and North could indeed mix it with the best.
"The young guys who've come into the side like Shaun Atley, Majak Daw and Cameron Richardson have been playing well," he said.
"Last year we had Ryan Bastinac come into the side, play 22 games and be a great contributor. If some of the young guys can do that this year we'll be competitive.
"We've got a very young group in the midfield, in particular. Andrew Swallow is our most experienced midfielder and he's 23, and I feel like one of the older blokes as well.
"But it's a pretty confident group, everyone's happy to take the game on and hopefully we can go a long way with that midfield."
Adams' confidence has not been shaken by North's winless start to its pre-season campaign. He points out the calibre of the sides the Kangaroos have lost to - likely top-four contenders Geelong, Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn - and the fact they've been trying different games plans, team structures and players.
Adams is, however, reluctant to set specific goals for himself.
"I want to have an injury-free year. If I can do that, hopefully I can put together 22 games plus finals," he said.
Scott, for one, would be very happy to see that.
