North veteran Brent Harvey says he’ll welcome a tag against Richmond in Sunday afternoon’s do-or-die Elimination Final.

The 37-year-old was manned by the Tigers’ Taylor Hunt last Friday night, and a similar match-up could be on the cards at the MCG.

“I’m used to that (being tagged) over 20 years … for the last 15 years I’ve been tagged pretty heavily and that’s all part of it,” Harvey told 3AW.

“I look at it as a compliment. I came on last week as a sub and someone came straight to me and tried to rough me up.

“If they do that again this week, that’s all good; I’ve got 21 teammates who will certainly be helping me out.

“They (the Tigers) don’t have to just worry about me. They’ve got to worry about 21 other North Melbourne players.”

Harvey played just 39 per cent of last week’s game as the substitute, but valued the chance to play while others were rested.

“Brad just came up to me and said ‘you ready?’, and I said ‘absolutely, I’m ready to play’,” he explained.

“From there he gave me a cheeky little smile and said ‘I’ll probably play you as the sub this week’.

“Brad just knows the person that I am and how much I love playing football. The whole preparation part, I still love that … the anxiety in the belly, and that was there last week even though I was going to be the sub.

“I think he just realises that I love playing and the continuity for me is a good thing, rather than resting.”

Nevertheless, the limited game-time has Harvey raring to go ahead of Sunday’s match.

“If Brad had have asked me whether I’d rest, play as a sub or play, I probably would have put my hand up and said play to tell you the truth. But right now, I’m glad I was the sub because I’m feeling as fresh as I have in a long, long time.”

While North will welcome back several stars, Harvey praised the youngsters who put the Tigers to the test in Round 23.

“I think guys were playing not only for selection this week, but some of them were playing for their careers,” he said.

“When you look back at it, they were hungry, and you certainly learnt a little bit more about a few players which was fantastic.

“If we didn’t run out of legs in that second half we might have got a little bit closer, but I thought it was a fantastic effort by our younger boys who came in.”

North Melbourne will hold an open training session this Saturday (September 12, 2015) at Arden Street from 11.15am-12.00pm.