NORTH Melbourne coach David Noble expects veteran Robbie Tarrant to retire a one-club player despite expected interest in the key defender from premiership contenders.

At 32, Tarrant is the second-oldest player on the rebuilding list and remains an integral part of the Kangaroos' backline.

He is three games into his comeback after having a small lump removed from his kidney in March and was missing until round 13.

The one-time Syd Barker medallist has lined up 167 times for North and Noble sees Tarrant adding plenty more games to that tally.

"I couldn't see Robbie playing for another club, let's be honest," Noble said.

"I don't envisage him going anywhere. There's certainly no indication from his side of things.

"From a club's perspective, I would be even surprised if that was even a consideration.

"We've enjoyed Robbie being back, he's a key part of our leadership group."

North (2-1-11) will on Sunday face the rampaging Western Bulldogs for the second time this season, after being crunched by 128 points on Good Friday.

The Kangaroos will take a cautious approach with first-round draft pick Tom Powell, who missed last week's win against Gold Coast.

"If we wanted to we could probably push on with him, but there's probably no need at this point in time," Noble said.

"We'll just take the next two or three weeks just to see how things settle down for him and maybe he's back in a month's time."

Meanwhile, North on Friday announced they had smashed their all-time membership record by passing 45,000 in a season where they look headed for the wooden spoon.

"For our fans to understand what we're doing is just incredible," Noble said.

"They're seeing what we want to do. They want to become part of that journey and cheer for the (Will) Phillips', the Powells and the (Charlie) Lazzaros with the more experienced guys.

"To have them on the start of that journey with us has been phenomenal."