Emerging onballer George Wardlaw will take no further part in the 2023 campaign after having reported hamstring tightness on Monday.

The No.4 pick from the 2022 draft tallied 14 disposals, nine tackles and four clearances from 55 per cent game time in Round 22, having just spent three weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring strain.

North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White says shutting Wardlaw down now will allow him to "come back early for a good off-season and pre-season".

"It consolidates a really good year of work for George where he's gotten 13 games in across the season between AFL and VFL, and (he) took some really big strides given the previous two years' worth of history," he said.

"We will take a conservative option now, given the fact that he has pulled up with hamstring tightness from that game back (against Essendon)."

A thumb fracture and subsequent surgery has ruled forward Jaidyn Stephenson out for the rest of the season.

He's currently in recovery mode after having a plate instilled into the base of his thumb.

>> VIEW THE AUSMED INJURY LIST

Fellow forward Cam Zurhaar will have to wait until next season to bring up his 100th AFL appearance, the 99-gamer having sustained an ankle syndesmosis injury against Hawthorn in Round 18.

"We were trying to get Cam back for the end of the season, (but) he'd have to have cleared being pain free on the hop and on the AlterG run last week, and he wasn't able to do that," White said.

"With that set back and not being able to progress into running on ground, it basically diminished any chance that he had of returning this week or next week.

"So again, (we're) going a little bit more conservative given the time of the year with Cam just to get that ankle right."

Co-captain Jy Simpkin has been cleared of any serious damage to his arm, despite having experienced some pain after he received a knock on Saturday.

"Jy copped a corkie to his bicep which game him a dead arm, so luckily there was nothing more sinister than that," he said.

"He's in the gym again this week and trained fully this morning, so we expect him to be fine this week."

Ruck-forward Callum Coleman-Jones is still suffering from the lingering effects of his Round 18 concussion, and thus has been ruled out of the final two games.

"We're being really conservative and sacrosanct given it is a head trauma injury," White went on.

"We'll look to consolidate his training program in the next two weeks and graduate his intensity mainly through non-contact football."

Key defender Ben McKay sustained a dislocation of his small finger in the fourth quarter against Essendon but is likely to play this Saturday against Richmond, possibly with a glove for added support.

Veteran Liam Shiels remains a week away with a calf issue.