DARREN Crocker’s debut as North Melbourne coach could be boosted with captain Brent Harvey a chance to play for the first time since dislocating his elbow in round five.

The Kangaroos meet the Western Bulldogs at the MCG this Sunday in their first game since Dean Laidley resigned as coach. Crocker has since taken the reins in a caretaker role.

The possible inclusion of his best player would be a huge boost for the club as its battles to stay in contention for the top eight.

North Melbourne football manager Donald McDonald said the Kangas were enjoying a few days’ break during the split round, but the fitness of several players was likely to be determined on Tuesday, when the squad returned for a skills session at Arden Street.

McDonald confirmed that Harvey, who had surgery to repair ligaments following his horrific injury against Richmond, was definitely in the running to resume this week.

“He got the all-clear from the specialist … so he’s just got to get through tomorrow’s training session,” McDonald said on Monday.

In more bright news for North fans, hugely-talented youngster Jesse Smith might play his first match in more than two months should he be cleared to resume in the VFL this weekend.

“We’re just going to assess him tomorrow, see how he gets through tomorrow’s session, and then we’ll make a decision as to whether we’ll play him at North Ballarat this week,” McDonald said.

The club has taken a different approach with the 22-year-old in its bid to get Smith back on the field following a series of hamstring injuries, a number of which have related to his revamped running style as a result of a shocking ankle injury.

“We reviewed everything we’ve done with him in the past,” McDonald said.

“We’ve definitely tried to get him to run a bit differently, but you can’t change something that’s been ingrained into a person.

“So instead of starting him running more or less straight away, this time we’ve looked at strengthening his legs up. He had to complete a good five to six weeks of that and then we’ve moved into the more gait analysis and the biomechanics of how he does run.

“So there’s been a different approach, and we’ve had a few different opinions on the best way of treating him because it is a bit of a rare injury … it’s just not hamstring-related, it all relates back to how he runs.

“So now it’s just a matter of hoping everything works out all right.”

McDonald said Lindsay Thomas should be fit to play the Bulldogs this week after a scan cleared him of any hamstring damage. Matt Campbell looks set to miss at least one more week with a hamstring, while Daniel Wells (hip) will have to get through training this week before being considered.