Interim North Melbourne coach Brett Ratten believes the Kangaroos could come out inspired against Sydney, wanting to put a smile on Alastair Clarkson's face.

The four-time premiership coach has stepped away indefinitely just nine games into his stint in charge at Arden St as he continues to deal with the fallout from the ongoing Hawthorn investigation.

Ratten, Clarkson's former trusted assistant at Hawthorn during the Hawks' golden era last decade, will take on his third head coaching job just seven months after being sacked by St Kilda.

After winning their first two games under Clarkson's tutelage this year, North is on a seven-match losing streak ahead of the clash with the Swans at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

"We want to make sure that we perform at the level we're after and I think this could be the motivating factor to do it for Al (Clarkson), make sure that we put a smile on his face," Ratten said on Friday.

Ratten praised Clarkson's "brave" decision to take time away from the AFL to deal with his mental health challenges and said the club had tried to process the news of Clarkson's indefinite absence as best they could with North football boss Todd Viney providing a session for players to deal with the crisis.

"They're a pretty resilient group," he said.

"Todd spoke to the players and we just opened it up to talk about how they were feeling; we had our psychologists there to make sure that everybody was feeling all right, expressing their views and that's really what it's about.

"Todd created a platform where people could have a voice and it was really good, really clear.

"Everyone had their opportunity to talk and how they're feeling so then we have to get on with it.

"The brutal thing about AFL footy it waits for nobody."