FORMER captain Brent Harvey will step down from North Melbourne's leadership group in 2014 to allow skipper Andrew Swallow to emerge from his shadow and oversee a new era of Roo leaders.

WATCH: BRAD SCOTT ON BRENT HARVEY

North coach Brad Scott told AFL.com.au on Tuesday of Harvey's impending move, lauding it as an act made in the best interests of the club.

"Brent will selflessly step out of the leadership group this year and take a really active role in mentoring our emerging leaders and I think that will certainly help Andrew grow as well," Scott said.

"We were really keen for a new captain to take over while Brent Harvey was still playing and now Brent is really keen for Andrew to stand up (and) take the captaincy without the figuratively large shadow of Brent Harvey hanging over him."

Harvey, 35, departs a leadership group that last year included Swallow, 26, vice-captains Drew Petrie and Jack Ziebell, along with Daniel Wells and Scott Thompson.

North has yet to finalise its 2014 leadership group but Scott suggested there might be some changes, with a new wave of leaders emerging at Aegis Park, including Jamie Macmillan, Ben Cunnington, Ryan Bastinac, Todd Goldstein, Aaron Black and Shaun Atley.

With Swallow set to start this season in the coach's box as he recovers from a ruptured left Achilles tendon, North is again likely to appoint a stand-in skipper.

Petrie performed the role late last season, but Scott said an appointment, if needed, would not be made until the leadership group was finalised.

Asked whether it would be tempting to give Ziebell a taste of the captaincy, Scott said "potentially", but stressed the Roos had a lot of leadership options.

"Now we're in a position where we genuinely feel we've got at least 10 guys that would be capable of fulfilling leaderships roles and then we’ve got probably another eight who are emerging leaders," he said.

Scott said Swallow had recently started running on the track after previously being limited to the weight-controlled treadmill, and had also been doing a "fair bit" of kicking.

The coach said North was not discouraging the skipper from his goal of returning for the club’s round one clash with Essendon, but maintained a return in the second half of 2014 was more realistic.

"I think for all North fans out there I wouldn't want to get their hopes up too high because he's our captain, he's an extremely important player," Scott said.

"His long-term health and future is the absolute priority for us.

"So we won't be pushing him back before he's ready and now we're fortunate that we have a midfield that is ready to stand on its own two feet in the absence of Andrew."