Senior coach Alastair Clarkson is feeling positive ahead of his eventual return to the helm at North Melbourne, interim coach Brett Ratten says.
The club continues to work with Clarkson as he takes time away from Arden St to focus on his wellbeing, and Ratten said he would leave it to Clarkson together with club CEO Jennifer Watt and general manager of football Todd Viney to determine when and how the four-time premiership coach returns.
"I caught up with him the other day for the first time," Ratten said at Arden St Oval on Thursday. "We spoke for about an hour and a half and it was a good chat about everything going on.
"He was up and about... smile on the face and really positive.
"What happens with the [transition] back, whether it is slow or medium or quick, I'm not sure. What I do know is, he's going to coach the North Melbourne footy club."
Ratten will coach his sixth game in the caretaker role when the Kangaroos travel to Adelaide to face the Crows on Saturday.
He said the Round 15 bye provided a welcome break for the team after a string of improved results including heartbreaking losses to Sydney and Essendon.
"There's a fair bit of frustration for us," Ratten said.
"We've been competitive. We've been in games and we've been close, but we can't get that win.
"That's the frustration from the players. We've got to a level where we're competitive, but we need to take that next step, and that's what we want to get in the back end of the year.
"We want to get a few victories along the way, because the group are working hard behind the scenes and we just haven't got that win."
