After 13 years as a player with North, Crocker coached VFL club Port Melbourne in 1999, had a five-year apprenticeship with Danny Frawley at Richmond and then returned to Arden Street as an assistant to Laidley in 2005.

Named in the interim role following Laidley's surprise resignation on Tuesday, Crocker said his opportunity was a "tremendous honour and privilege" but acknowledged the club's process for an appointment.

"The coaches I have worked with have been fantastic and the coaches I have played under, I learned a hell of a lot from," he said. "I really think I now have something to offer as a coach.

"There's no doubt I want to coach senior football and I think I'm well-equipped to coach senior football.

"I first coached at Port Melbourne so to coach an AFL senior team [seemed] a fair way off."

Crocker said he had already spoken with a number of his mentors and that it was crucial he stayed true to himself and his approach over the next 10 weeks.

However, only small changes would be made to Laidley's game plan as North looked to get the most out of the remainder of its season.

"With all credit to Dean, we weren't that far off the mark," Crocker said. "We want to play an exciting brand of football that brings our members and supporters through the gates and has them really excited about the way we're educating our young players to play the modern game.

"We're looking to remain uncompromising with the way we go about our football. That's been a trademark of this football club for a long time."

Though North isn't completely out of the finals race, Crocker reiterated his side was at a development stage and wanted to make significant ground in that regard by the end of the year.

"We're playing a lot of young kids [and] some of the older guys will probably see this as an opportunity to prove themselves to a new coach," he said.

"I've just come out of a meeting with the players for the first time this morning and basically set down what my vision for the next 10 weeks would be."

Veteran Adam Simpson had also spoken with Crocker about the support he would provide him in the caretaker role.

"Brent (Harvey)'s the same," Crocker added. "I'd imagine the leadership group will be right behind me over the next 10 weeks.

"I suppose the next 10 weeks gives us great opportunity. We're going into a new facility next year and [we can] really work on becoming a high-performance football club."

Crocker said a gathering at Laidley's house on Tuesday night had provided his shocked players with some closure.

He had not considered the speculation of Collingwood great Nathan Buckley being in North's sights for the job.