Carey left North in a storm of personal controversy on the eve of the 2002 season but in recent weeks chairman James Brayshaw, chief executive Eugene Arocca, coach Dean Laidley and senior player Adam Simpson – among others – have extended an olive branch.
Carey's induction will be the focus of Saturday night's function in Melbourne and Archer, voted the Shinboner of the Century in 2005, said it was well and truly warranted.
"Through all the stuff that Wayne's been through, I've never changed my mind about the fact that he's the greatest footballer that I've ever seen and definitely deserves his spot in the hall of fame," he told kangaroos.com.au.
"Whether it's a club's hall of fame, the AFL Hall of Fame – I've always thought we should take a look at what [a player has] done on the field. We've had a couple of other guys in the past – Gary Ablett – who have been kept out of the hall of fame because of misdemeanours off the field.
"It gets a little bit too confusing when you start throwing that stuff in. You look purely at what they've done on the field and what they did for the club in the time that they were there.
"When you look at it like that, no-one's more worthy to get into the hall of fame [than Wayne]."
Carey has sought help for anger management and alcohol and drug abuse in recent years and Archer is pleased he has committed to turning his life around and re-visiting friendships.
"All I know is he's now got some really good people around him and he's trying to repair some of those bridges," he said.
"We all hope as North Melbourne supporters that he can get his life back on track and get out of the rut that he was once in."
Archer also believes Carey has a lot to offer in a professional capacity.
North has flagged a role that could see the 37-year-old work with some of the club's younger players.
"Whatever role he does take, hopefully he can do it to the best of his ability," Archer said. "Maybe somewhere down the track he might be able to have some involvement with the younger players, because there's no doubting his football brain.
"Even though he was an absolute star as a footballer, he's actually got a great knowledge of the game and can pass on some really good tips to our young players."
Archer is disappointed he won't be at the hall of fame function, with a family commitment preventing his attendance.
He had planned to attend and was one of 50 people to pre-purchase a guernsey number that will be auctioned on the evening as a fundraiser for the club.
Archer drew No. 19 in the ballot, which belongs to highly-touted draftee Jack Ziebell, and hopes it attracts plenty of interest.
Successful bidders for the 50 guernsey numbers will own the number for life, with the number displayed on their membership card and their name on both the player's locker and an honour board at the new Arden Street facility.
