TWO can play the game North Melbourne has chosen to start with its ageing superstar Brent Harvey.

Harvey can play it, too.

If it's good enough for North to publicly speculate on a 2016 season without him, then Harvey would be within his rights to actively consider the same thing.

Even at the of age 38, which he will turn next May, Harvey would be a person of interest to several other clubs.

Alastair Clarkson and the Hawks seriously asked him the question three seasons ago, and would almost certainly do so again at the end of 2015 if the landscape at North was still blurred.

Adam Simpson, a former long-time teammate of Harvey, would also contemplate asking if he'd like to be part of an exciting team, and to roam the forward line packs that would be split open by Josh Kennedy, Nic Naitanui and Jack Darling.

Luke Beveridge would probably be keen to see if there was any interest in a player still averaging 24 disposals in his 20th season of football if indeed he would like to be a Bulldog in his 21st.

Leon Cameron would probably drool at having access to Harvey, and have fantasies of him working beneath the aerial work of Jeremy Cameron, Cam McCarthy and Jon Patton.

It has been strange to watch North Melbourne coach Brad Scott's words surrounding Harvey as the veteran prepares for his 400th match this weekend.

Scott has returned from his four-match absence for back surgery in a determined state, and has offered no guarantees about the future to Harvey.

Scott has every right to say what he wants about any of his players, and his observations have come only after media questioning.

But in his six years as North coach, he has never before been so publicly open about any of his players.

Harvey doesn't deserve the scrutiny.

Sure, he's not Luke Hodge when it comes to displaying the defensive side of football. He will default to assuming an attacking position at stoppages, even when the defensive requirements are at a premium.

He's slowed down a little bit. His kicking is not as precise nor as penetrating as it once was. Contested possessions don't come as frequently as they once did.

But sometimes in footy, the rules that apply to all need to be overlooked for a certain individual, particularly when that individual's body of work is as sound as anyone's to ever represent a club.

It would be debated, but one could mount a very strong case that Harvey is North Melbourne's second greatest player, behind only Wayne Carey.

After a match against Geelong two weeks ago in which Harvey was used as the Roos' sub, Scott said: "Whilst being the sub wasn't a punishment, he needed to know that if he's not going to listen to my words, he might listen to my actions."

On that night, Scott went on to say that "I'm all about evidence, and if he provides the evidence, then he should go on (into 2016)".

This week, he said: "If he's playing really well, his body holds up and he's playing his role for the team, then there's every chance that he plays on. But if he's not able to do that for whatever reason then we'll do the best thing by the club."

It is becoming borderline disrespectful to Harvey to have his future questioned, given the on-field problems he may be causing right now could not possibly be in Scott's top 15 most pressing issues in this, to date, underwhelming and disappointing home-and-away season.

If Scott is prepared to publicly question Harvey's form and therefore his future, then we can expect him to him offer similar thoughts on other North players, including Ryan Bastinac, Jarrad Waite, Aaron Black, Robbie Tarrant, Shaun Atley and others.

Harvey has knocked back several massive offers throughout his time as a one-club player, and North now owes it to him to provide an opportunity to break Michael Tuck's all-time games record of 426.

Providing an opportunity is different to gifting it. Harvey would still be required to earn his place.

Scott has every right to actually axe Harvey from his senior team.

But Harvey doesn't need nor deserve to have his own club publicly and privately questioning whether it will actually allow him the right to be on the Roos' list in 2016.

If Harvey was to reach Tuck's record, it would actually be a club milestone as much as a personal one. Just as it was for Essendon when Dustin Fletcher recently reached game 400.

Well over 800 games experience were on show this week when Fletch joined Boomer. Picture: AFL Media



If the Bombers applied to Fletcher the logic that North is attaching to Harvey, then Fletcher would have been told to retire at the end of 2013, let alone last year. In 20 years time when people reflect on Fletcher's achievement, no one is going to focus on the fact he seriously struggled to get to 400. Credit to the Bombers.

There is nothing more for North to know about Harvey, who is in significantly better condition than Fletcher, and nothing for it to lose if it was to immediately announce publicly that Harvey will be a part of its 2016.

It is one spot on a playing list. One spot without a guarantee to a position in the senior team. One spot which would allow a club great the opportunity to do something no one else in the history of the game has ever managed - reach 427 matches.

Rival clubs wouldn't be able to reach their phones quick enough to offer such a spot if the opportunity presented itself. They will be looking at what Harvey can do at 38, not what he can't do.

Maybe they already have offered it.

Twitter: @barrettdamian