NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott is confident the Kangaroos are firmly focused on securing their 12th win of the season this weekend despite the buzz surrounding Brent Harvey's record-breaking 427th game.
The 38-year-old Kangaroos veteran has been the centre of attention so far this week as he edges closer to the milestone, which will see him surpass Hawthorn great Michael Tuck's record of 426 VFL/AFL games.
Scott said the club had made a conscious effort to allow fans to hear from Harvey early in the week but that the Roos were fully focused on beating St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night, which would all but seal their finals spot.
"Clearly there's a lot of interest and I think it's in everyone's interest to see and hear from 'Boomer' throughout the week, so we want to give everyone an opportunity to speak to him early in the week so that later in the week we can knuckle down and focus on our 12th win," Scott said on Wednesday.
"That's been the aim for a long time and that's certainly the objective this Saturday night, notwithstanding the fact we're celebrating an incredible milestone. Boomer himself is firmly focused on that 12th win."
The Roos will mark Harvey's game with a number of different initiatives ahead of (and during) the Saints clash, including wearing specially designed 'Boomer 427' jumpers. The players trained in the guernseys at their Arden Street headquarters on Wednesday.
Scott said Harvey deserved to be celebrated this weekend, but was reluctant to look into the future to predict what his final tally of games will be and whether he plays on in 2017.
"I get asked that all the time and it's a valid question. It's probably for others speculate, I'm not going to join in and give my opinion on that," he said.
"I mean it when I say we're focused on his 427th [game] and anything after that we'll focus on when it comes around. This week's all about the team trying to get its 12th win, and about celebrating an incredible milestone.
"[That's] not just for Boomer and North Melbourne, but for the AFL as a whole because I think most of us are never, ever going to see a record like this broken."
North forward Jarrad Waite is expected to return to play in the milestone match, after battling an hip injury that ruled him out of last week's win over Collingwood.
"He's going well. He didn't miss by much last week but we took a very cautious approach because we need him at his best. When he's out there, we need to make sure he can do all the things that everyone knows he can do," Scott said.
"He'll train today and I think he's a really good chance, but I can't categorically say whether he'll play or not."
Scott confirmed Drew Petrie would be "fine" to play despite a hand problem seeing him don a glove at training.
The Saints have been in strong form in recent weeks, winning five of their past six games including victories over top-four contenders Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.
They are eyeing a finals spot and a win over North would close the gap between the sides to just one victory, but Scott said the Roos were not concerned with the tightness around the top-eight on the ladder.
"At this time of the year every game is important. Every game in the run up to the finals is important, and not just to get the win but also how you are performing," he said.
"That's something we've been really strong on here in the past couple of years. It's not just about qualifying, you've got to be playing really good footy at the right time of the year.
"We're confident we're going to finish off the back half of the season really well.
"We're looking forward. We're not looking over our shoulders at who's chasing us. We're looking forward at what we want to achieve over the next five weeks and beyond."
