NORTH Melbourne has dropped a bombshell by announcing veterans Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Michael Firrito and Nick Dal Santo will not be offered new contracts for 2017.
The Kangaroos' cull was revealed on Wednesday, with 2016 to be the final season at Arden Street for Harvey, 38, Petrie, 33, Dal Santo, 32, and Firrito, 32.
North coach Brad Scott informed the four veterans individually of the club's decision on Tuesday, a day he said had been "easily the hardest of my coaching career".
Scott told a media conference on Wednesday the decision had been made ahead of North's clash with Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium because that game might be the club's last in Melbourne for the season.
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"It's a heartbreaking decision and I can assure everyone a decision that wasn't taken lightly," Scott said.
"There have been on-going discussions with the boys involved and the decision was taken to move the announcement forward because we really feel that while we hope it's not, there's a possibility this weekend's game is our last in Melbourne.
"We were determined to give the players the opportunity for their friends, their family, their loved ones, but also the fans, the supporters, the members to see the boys play in Melbourne for potentially what could be the last [time]."
Harvey, Petrie and Dal Santo were keen to play on at North, while Firrito had been offered multiple one-year contracts over the past few seasons.
North's announcement suggests fellow veterans Jarrad Waite, 33, and Daniel Wells, 31, are highly likely to play on next season.
When asked about Waite's future on Wednesday, Scott said only that North's discussions with the former Blue were "on-going".
Scott said the recent form of Harvey, Petrie, Dal Santo and Firrito warranted each of them playing on in 2017, but the club's need to blood younger players had to take precedence.
The Roos coach acknowledged some might view the club's decision as an acknowledgement its premiership window would close at the end of this season but, again, stressed it was the right call for the club's future.
"There's a lot of conjecture as to how that's going to go, but one thing I do know is that in the short term if we continue to play our senior players at the expense of our young players not only will we lose our senior players in a year or maybe two, but we'll lose our young players too through a lack of opportunity," Scott said.
Scott said the four veterans had been "very disappointed, and understandably so" when informed of the club's decision, but had taken the news in "an unbelievably professional and honourable manner".
The quartet's emotions were still too raw to speak to the media on Wednesday, the Roos coach said.
When Harvey, Petrie, Firrito and Dal Santo addressed the rest of the playing group earlier that day, Scott said they had implored them to make the most of their finals opportunity this year.
"They're determined to get every last ounce of energy out for this football club over the next hopefully five weeks," Scott said of the veterans.
The news comes with one round left in the home and away season and with the Roos' finals campaign still to play out.
Harvey, the VFL/AFL's games record holder with 430 matches and counting, will finish his Kangaroos career after 21 seasons.
Petrie, a five-time leading goal kicker at North, became just the fifth North player to reach the 300-game mark earlier this season.
After 12 seasons and 260 games at St Kilda, Dal Santo has played 60 games in his three seasons at the Kangaroos, helping the club to three straight finals campaigns.
Firrito, a dependable defender and respected team man, has managed 273 matches since being elevated off the rookie list in 2003.
