North Melbourne and Carlton will send a message of support for Adam Goodes on Saturday night in the minutes leading up to the first bounce.

Indigenous players from both sides will walk to the centre circle with captains Andrew Swallow and Marc Murphy for the coin toss and will exchange handshakes as a mark of respect.

“We’ve been working with Carlton on the best way to show our support to Adam and reinforce the message that this ongoing poor treatment of him has to stop,” CEO Carl Dilena told NMFC.com.au.

Goodes has taken leave after being booed by fans across the country. He will not line up for the Swans when they take on Adelaide on Saturday afternoon, and may call an end to his remarkable career.

North Melbourne took a strong stance in the lead up to the club’s Round 11 match against Sydney with Jack Ziebell one of the first players to call for an end to the booing.

“I’d hope the North Melbourne fans respect Adam Goodes, he’s a champion of our game and I’d like to think that our supporters have a bit more class than booing one of the champions of the game,” Ziebell said.

Ziebell’s sentiments were echoed by caretaker coach Darren Crocker.

“Adam Goodes, as Jack (Ziebell) said, is a champion of the game. I’m not sure what’s going on with the general public at the moment, but we’re really confident that we’ve got terrific supporters,” Crocker said.

While some clubs have opted to wear their special indigenous jumpers to highlight the Goodes’ situation, Dilena said North was unable to follow suit due to a shortage of uniforms.

“Like many other clubs, some of the indigenous jumpers we wore in Round 9 were given away and others were auctioned off so unfortunately we don’t have a full set,” he explained.

“The jumpers the players wear during games are quite different to the ones on the racks down in the Roo Shop. We only order one set of the indigenous jumpers and I know some other clubs are in the same boat as us.

“You actually need about three jumpers per player, per game, in case there are any tears, rips or even blood stains throughout the course of the match.”