NORTH MELBOURNE captain Brent Harvey says his club is eager to move on from the fallout of last week's fiery clash, with the Kangaroos facing what may be their season-defining match against Fremantle on Sunday.

Coaches, commentators and even past players have weighed into the debate surrounding the Scott Thompson-Barry Hall stoush in North's 70-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Though Harvey said he had seen news reports in the days after the game, he avoided the papers - suspecting the altercation would have been "blown up".

And he stood by Thompson, acknowledging he had been "sensational" in his preparations for Fremantle while supporting the full-back's stance that he wouldn't change his niggling approach.

"You guys have got to remember that this happens every single week in football," Harvey said from Arden Street on Thursday morning.

"I've probably been pushed over five or six times doing my bootlaces up and you don't have to go any further than Gary Ablett or Chris Judd.

"Go speak to those guys and see how much attention they get ... the camera happened to be on Scotty and Barry at the time and, you know, it got blown up."

Harvey conceded that if Thompson had his time again he may not have shoved Hall to the turf, but it was that ruthless approach the skipper wants from his teammates.

He said he wanted North to be known as "hard at the ball, hard at the man with the ball and very courageous".

Attack will be a focus, as much as the ability to run and create on the wide expanses of Subiaco Oval against a much-improved Fremantle unit.

North hopes to regain big men Hamish McIntosh (shoulder) and David Hale (back) to help counter giant Aaron Sandilands, who is central to Fremantle's first use of the ball and allows its runners to spread so quickly.

McIntosh and Hale both appeared to train without discomfort on Thursday, raising hopes at least one will return to join Todd Goldstein in the ruck.

That will lift the Roos, who sit at 4-5 but still within striking distance of the top eight.

"We've played four of the top five teams, so we're going OK as a footy club," he said.

"We're where we need to be. It's a big game for the football club [this week].

"If we can break even and be 5-5 after 10 rounds, we'll probably be in a real good position to go forward in the second half of the season."