Since round 10 Levi Greenwood, a 25 year-old who began the season with just 52 matches, ranks third in the league for kicks and in the top six for disposals, inside 50s and uncontested possessions.

The level of public recognition that has generated may have made him an overnight success – in his eighth season at the club – in the eyes of some football followers.

Some may have remembered him from the last home-and-away match of 2010, a dead-rubber Sunday twilight match at the MCG when the Kangaroos and Melbourne finished their respective reasons with a rollicking match in which the then 21-year-old dominated with 39 disposals, seven marks, six tackles and a goal.

After, coach Brad Scott questioned why Greenwood, pick 32 in the 2007 draft, lacked the media raps given to his peers, particularly higher-drafted Demons such as Tom Scully.

Over the past seven matches Greenwood has averaged just under 30 disposals. Yet for much of the past two years the primary beneficiary of his prolific ball-winning ability has not been the Kangaroos. By their choice it was VFL affiliate North Ballarat.

Greenwood's opportunity to again showcase his wares at senior level was helped by hardened midfielders Swallow and Ziebell having missed a total 18 matches since the second half of last season.

Across 2012 and 2013 Greenwood played a total of only 11 matches, despite being free of injury.

Waiting so long for a berth in each season – round eight in 2012, round 13 last year – was "a bit of a whack in the back of a head", he conceded. The rationale at the time from Scott was that he had fallen behind teammates such as Ben Cunnington.

Scott is understandably delighted at the form of Greenwood since his recall in round two. But that form of this year does not make the coach regret having looked elsewhere for midfield options in the past two years.

"Levi has had to fight for every opportunity ... we haven't gifted him any opportunities. That being said, the injury to Swallow opened one up for him late last year and again early this year and, full credit to him, he's taken that opportunity," Scott said this week.

"I don't look back in hindsight and think we should've played him earlier. The message to Levi was that he had some areas of his game he needed to work on. He's worked unbelievably hard on those areas, and full credit goes to Levi himself for taking his opportunity and doing the work to get himself to this level."

Greenwood's stint out of the team was helped by his close mate – and now housemate – Aaron Edwards being in a similar situation at the Kangaroos and, since 2013, at Richmond. Each player was able to pick the other up during the tough times.

But Greenwood said his spirits never sank too low because he felt he still had the underlying faith of his coach and that he was still improving as a player; his problem was that the team was improving at the same rate, if not faster.

"I never really felt like it was going to be over. I was just waiting for an opportunity to come up, [and was determined to] not waste it," he said.

Greenwood is adept at winning possession in close, a trait helped by him being strongly built. That barrel-chested physique can, however, obscure the fact he ranks in North's top five for running endurance.

His coach declared "as a football athlete they don't come much better than Levi". Ranking equal sixth for uncontested possessions across the league since round 10 is a demonstration of his aerobic capability.

"I like to catch people off guard. They probably look at me and think 'He's not going to be able to run', and then all of a sudden I can run," Greenwood explained. "I base my game around running; I get a lot of my ball out on the wing, and by hard work and running and spreading."

But even that high level of fitness – helped by him realising he had not trained as hard in previous pre-seasons as he could have – has not made him immune to the increase in physical demands from playing regularly. As of Saturday's match against St Kilda in Hobart he will have equalled his consecutive games record (15) and be only two away from matching his season record (17, in 2010). When winter began he was struggling to train during the week, but his body has since adjusted to the rigours.

Greenwood is optimistic that his form will persuade the Kangaroos to extend his contract that lapses at the end of the season. An even higher priority is to play his first final. But even before those two have been delivered the midfielder is appreciative of his lot.

"This is definitely the best period I've had at the Roos, by far the best form I've been in for my whole time here. And the most exciting time since I've been at the club as well," he said.

The biggest footballing hassle Greenwood is experiencing is the resilience around the club of the "pig" nickname bestowed on him by former teammate Alan Obst. As a teen, he naively explained to his teammates that he "absolutely hated it" – guaranteeing its retention.

Given that experience, and his study for a business degree, it is clear that it is not just on the field that Greenwood is learning valuable lessons.