Brent Harvey is at peace with North Melbourne's decision to bring his time at Arden Street to an end but has not ruled out playing on with another club next year.

Former North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley has taken a veiled swipe at Jarrad Waite after the Kangaroos decided to move on club stalwarts Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie and Michael Firrito on Wednesday instead of the injury-plagued forward.

The club is always bigger than the individual, regardless of how good you've been. We saw that on Wednesday at North Melbourne.

Brent Harvey wants to finish his North Melbourne career on the best possible note before he contemplates playing on at another club.

In-form Brent Harvey has the ability to play on but does the ageing champ have the capital?

• COMMENT

North Melbourne's bombshell decision to forcibly retire Brent Harvey via press release presents as one of the game's more clinical and cold-hearted manoeuvres of recent years even allowing for the timing, coach Brad Scott's "team first" mantra and the calibre of players who were delisted alongside him.

North Melbourne have announced that they will not renew the contracts of four of their veterans in 2017: games record holder Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Michael Firrito and Nick Dal Santo.

• COMMENT

Bold or foolish? Only time is going to properly answer the question about the timing of North Melbourne’s decision to announce they would be pulling the pin on four of their five oldest players.

North Melbourne veteran Nick Dal Santo accepts he may not know his AFL future until after the season ends.

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says he has no interest in how Melbourne fare on Sunday, preferring instead to qualify for the finals in their own right rather than falling over the line.

Sydney are in the box seat for a top-two finish while North Melbourne's season hangs in the balance after the Swans prevailed in a match worthy of a final on Saturday.

• Live

There's plenty at stake as finals loom, with five of the top-eight sides in action across five big games. Don't miss a kick.

North Melbourne's high-stakes clash with Sydney in Hobart is shaping as a battle of the boots between Ben Brown and Lance Franklin.

North Melbourne's growing injury list has not helped their patchy form since they won the first nine matches of the season, but accidents like the one suffered by Sam Gibson in the club gym on Tuesday have added insult to injury.

North Melbourne will not be making decisions on the futures of players, including games-record holder Brent Harvey, before the season is finished. 

Melbourne still have a lot of work to do to reach this year's finals. But the Demons have form when it comes to unlikely charges at September, in fact, one of the most famous of them all.

Hawthorn was still not playing grand final football and would not be resting any players in the lead-up to September, coach Alastair Clarkson said.

Hawthorn didn't play four quarters against North Melbourne. But so good was their first, it didn't matter.

North Melbourne veteran Brent Harvey is likely to attract the attention of the AFL's match review panel this week, after making contact with Sam Mitchell that might be considered too high.