EMBATTLED Gold Coast players will be motivated enough to win on Saturday so North Melbourne players won’t be needling them any more.

The Suns have been in the spotlight all week following code-hopper Karmichael Hunt’s claims to the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission that as many as 12 players were involved in a cocaine-fuelled party session at the end of last season.

Stand-in North coach Darren Crocker concedes he doesn’t know how the Suns will respond to the week of controversy when they meet at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.

But he isn’t expecting any sledging or provocative displays similar to Hawk Sam Mitchell’s “jab” action against Essendon last week.

“How much motivation they get from backs-against-the-wall type stuff, we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

“I wouldn’t be mentioning it (in preparations) and I don’t think I’d need to mention (not to do it).

“I don’t think our players would go down that path. We’d like to consider ourselves a well-respected club with well-respected players and we’d be inclined to just let our football do the talking.”

media_camera Ben Jacobs could be handed the task of minding Gary Ablett. Picture: Colleen Petch

The Suns look set to regain star skipper Gary Ablett, and Crocker says the Kangaroos will be well-prepared should the dual Brownlow medallist be back, having not played since injuring his shoulder in Round 2.

Tagger Ben Jacobs leads the way as a prime candidate to take on Ablett, but Crocker says the Kangaroos will need to be flexible depending on the midfielder’s role.

“How (Gary) comes back remains to be seen,” he said.

“You do have to plan for the opposition’s best players, so we’ll have something in place.

“From all accounts he’s been able to run a lot, so his running fitness may not be an issue but his match fitness will be down, so whether they play him a little bit more forward is something that we’ll speak about in match committee and we’ll plan (for) … that if he plays 90-odd per cent but spends 40 per cent forward, what are we going to do there.”

North veteran Brent Harvey has been struck down with a bout of gastro and missed training yesterday but will travel to the Gold Coast to take on the Suns.

Crocker will again lead the coaching group this week as senior coach Brad Scott continues his recovery from back surgery with the aim of returning to the box next week.