North Melbourne caretaker coach Rhyce Shaw denies he has been offered a contract to take on the full-time role following Brad Scott's departure.
Reports suggested on Saturday that Shaw is likely to sign a two-year deal with an option for a third season after he was interviewed for the job this week.
Speaking after a 49-point loss to the red-hot Eagles in Perth, which brought his win-loss record to 4-4, Shaw was asked if he had been offered a deal and replied: "Nah, not yet, no."
"I sit in the same spot as I have for the last seven or eight weeks," he added.
"Nothing has changed for me. It's exactly the same as it was yesterday, and exactly the same as it was last week.
"There's been that smoke (about him getting the job) for a long time, hasn't there? I can't control that.
"Today was really disappointing for us as a group and I've got to try and make sure I find solutions for that, and our coaches will go to work as soon as we can and look forward to next week.
"I can't really worry about the coaching side of it in terms of who is coaching next year.
"I've just got to make sure I do the best job that I can and I'm the senior coach right now."
Shaw was disappointed the Kangaroos' trademark pressure dipped against the Eagles, which exposed a defence terrorised by West Coast spearhead Josh Kennedy.
In the absence of Scott Thompson (ruptured testicle), Kennedy monstered Robbie Tarrant before youngster Sam Durdin was switched onto him, the veteran spearhead finishing with seven majors.
"Our defenders have been so great for so long and both Josh and Jack (Darling, two goals) were on fire, really, and they're pretty hard to stop," Shaw said.
"We probably needed to support a bit more if we could.
"Losing a quality player always hurts. Scotty has been playing some pretty good footy this year, but it was a good opportunity for Sam Durdin to step up.
"I thought even though there were periods there when the big fellas got on top, I thought Sam fought pretty hard throughout the day, which was a good sign.
"It was a great opportunity for him and he'll learn a lot from that."
North, which will be sweating on scan results for backman Shaun Atley after he appeared to dislocate his kneecap late, is all-but out of the September race after a third-straight defeat.
The Roos are two wins and 21.9 per cent behind Adelaide, which has a tenuous grip on eighth spot, with four games remaining and face Hawthorn, Geelong, Port Adelaide and Melbourne on the run home.
But Shaw was more focused on getting the Roos back to their competitive best ahead of a must-win Friday night showdown against the Hawks.
"The way we play is really important to me, our other coaches, our players and the club, so we've just got to make sure we get back to playing that style of footy," Shaw said.
