NORTH Melbourne caretaker coach Darren Crocker says he won't be out to make statements when selecting his side for Sunday's clash with the Western Bulldogs.

Last round, Crocker's equivalent at Richmond, Jade Rawlings, axed five senior players for his first game following Terry Wallace's resignation.

But Crocker, who took over from Dean Laidley last Tuesday, said as the new coach it was important to give his players the feeling of a fresh start.

"Perhaps what a previous coach may have thought of them, that's not there anymore," he said from Arden Street on Tuesday morning.

"There'll be some senior guys who will be looking at resurrecting their AFL careers, young guys who are looking forward to getting an opportunity with theirs and obviously guys who are playing at the moment, they'd be looking forward to continuing on.

"There's just an expectation everyone starts even and we go from here."

Crocker said he was excited rather than nervous about the challenges that awaited him, particularly with the players' support of his vision for the next 10 weeks.

He confirmed a number of minor changes had been made to the structure of meetings and the players' program – without "turning the place upside down".

"Someone once said to me, 'You can see further when you've stood on the shoulders of giants' and the people who have been before me – Dean the most recent – have done some wonderful things," he said.

Crocker has also worked to make the club environment more efficient and more enjoyable; players and coaches would have lunch together on Tuesday and the tradition of regular soup service after training sessions would be reintroduced.

"I'd like to think that when the players walk in, they're basically saying to themselves, 'OK, how do I get better today?' and when they walk out of the place at the end of the day they're saying, 'I did get better and I enjoyed every part of doing that'," he said.

On-field, Crocker has considered how North can buck its forward-line struggles which makes it the competition's lowest scoring side after 12 rounds.

He said the Roos needed to start hurting sides again, especially when the ball was turned over, and would be encouraged to take on their opponents.

"It's just about being recognised as a good team by the end of the 10 weeks," he said.

"If we can do that, go from being a developing and rebuilding team, and be a team that's really hard to beat every time we go out on the park over these 10 weeks, we can walk away and be pretty happy with what we've achieved."

Crocker said he would take confidence from captain Brent Harvey's return from an elbow injury for his first game since round five.

He added that draftee Liam Anthony was in the mix for a debut against the Dogs, but Daniel Wells – who missed the loss to Adelaide with an ongoing groin complaint – was battling a virus and would only train lightly to start the week.