NORTH Melbourne's Brent Harvey says it will take some time to adjust to not having former skipper Adam Simpson as a teammate or a mentor after playing most of his 274 games with him.

The bond shared by the 1999 premiership players strengthened when Harvey was appointed captain last November and Simpson maintained an informal support role for his successor's first season in charge.

A dislocated elbow kept Harvey from playing in Simpson's 300th this year, something that still saddens the skipper.

"Out of my 270-odd games, I reckon I've only missed about 10 games with Simmo," Harvey said. "He's been there for the majority of them.

"We've both been pretty durable throughout our careers ... we've played a lot of footy together and we understand the way each other play.

"I bounce a lot of things off Simmo and I feel pretty privileged to be able to say I've played 200 and something games with him.

"He's been an icon of our footy club and a great leader and, more importantly, a really good friend."

Simpson said at his Monday press conference that he was proud of North's current leaders – Harvey, Drew Petrie, Brady Rawlings and Daniel Pratt – and that Harvey would now benefit from his absence.

Anthony Stevens, North's captain in 2002 and 2003, had stayed on for the first year of Simpson's five-season tenure.

"You need your own space a little bit," Simpson said. "I found that when Anthony Stevens retired it really felt like the team was mine, and I think Boomer will feel that when I walk out the door."

Harvey spoke with Simpson about the comment on Monday afternoon and said he was partially right.

"A lot of things I do I bounce off Simmo and next year I probably won't have to do that," he said. "They're my thoughts but I like to see what he thinks of them.

"Some things he says are fantastic and some things he says, 'No, not really. I wouldn't do that.' I tend to follow his trend because he's been so good for so long.

"It will be a little bit hard next year not to bounce things off him but he has been fantastic, so I can't complain too much."

Simpson will play his 306th and final game when North Melbourne hosts Carlton on Friday night.