NORTH Melbourne chairman James Brayshaw says the retiring Adam Simpson deserves to sit among the great players who have represented the club.

Speaking from Monday morning's announcement at Arden Street, Brayshaw said he hoped Simpson could remain at North beyond his 306-game career, but understood his coaching aspirations could take him elsewhere.

Brayshaw added that North was privileged to have Simpson and that the 33-year-old was "a person of the utmost integrity, a player of enormous courage and underrated skill [and] an incredible leader".

"That's the thing with Adam that I think often gets overlooked," Brayshaw said.

"In some pretty tough times for this footy club, he stood up and provided our playing group, our supporters and our members with some incredible leadership. That will never be undervalued from our footy club's point of view.

"When you talk about great players who have played for this club – the (Barry) Cables, the (Wayne) Schimmelbuschs, the (Keith) Greigs, the (Malcolm) Blights, the (Ross) Glendinnings, into (Wayne) Carey, (Brent) Harvey and (Glenn) Archer, I think Adam Simpson's name is very comfortably a part of that."

Simpson succeeded Anthony Stevens as captain in 2004, but stood down from the position at the end of last year.

Former coach Dean Laidley said at the time that Simpson's tenure carried extra weight because of the myriad issues he'd dealt with beyond on-field performance, including the club's financial woes and threat of re-location to the Gold Coast.

Simpson also agreed that he had perhaps shouldered more pressure than captains at other clubs because winning had meant survival for his.

Those experiences will prove invaluable for the next phase of his life. Simpson has undertaken a training program with the AFL Coaches' Association, and reiterated on Monday that he would be considering his coaching pathway in the coming months.

Brayshaw said his message to Simpson was to seek opportunities at other AFL clubs, or other levels of the game, if he felt he needed to.

"This is a person who I think has got all the traits of a senior coach in the future," he said.

"Over the next five years, I think 'Simmo's' got to get a portfolio together – probably similar to what Al Clarkson did – and then when the time's right, he'll coach senior footy. I reckon he'll do a great job of it."