Brad Scott still hasn't given Brent Harvey the green light to play on at North Melbourne next year and the AFL coach says the evergreen midfielder is fine with that.
Speaking ahead of his 400-game milestone, Harvey said he hoped to gain some clarity about his future with the club this week.
Scott met the 37-year-old following the Kangaroos' big win over Brisbane at the weekend but said extending his decorated career wasn't on the agenda.
"Boomer came to speak to me about making sure that I keep the foot on his throat and that I hold him accountable to all of the things that we value," Scott said on Wednesday.
"He's actually talking about the opposite - he's worried about this week and next week. He's got a really short-term focus at the moment and that's a credit to him."
The Kangaroos climbed into the top eight for the first time this season on the back of the 72-point thumping of the Lions and have the opportunity to consolidate that position on Saturday night when they face 16th-placed Carlton.
The hapless Blues are coming off a club record 138-point loss to Hawthorn.
Scott said this was more about the dominance of the Hawks than a reasonable indication of how Carlton were playing.
Jarrad Waite is set to reach his 200-game milestone when he faces his old club for the first time, Scott praising the impact the forward has had since crossing to Arden Street at the end of last season.
"We've been really happy ... he's been our equal-third highest goal kicker this year," the coach said. "But most importantly for us, it's not just his goalkicking output - he's completely turned around the way he plays in the last three weeks.
"The last three weeks, he ranks No.5 in the competition in pressure (acts) and that's just a different Jarrad Waite to what we've probably seen in the past and his teammates are really acknowledging that.
"He's a really important part of our side now regardless of his output on the scoreboard."
Forgotten midfielder Daniel Wells is making slow but steady progress as he recovers from a long-term achilles injury but Scott says there is still no definitive timeframe for his return to the field.
In better news, Lachie Hansen is available after overcoming a hip complaint.
Scott, however, said he would find it hard to change a winning combination to accommodate the key defender.
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