ADAM Simpson chose the right time to step aside as North Melbourne captain, according to club great Glenn Archer.

Not that Archer believes his close friend needed to be relieved of the duties, but because it allows Simpson to mentor his successor rather than retire from the game still bearing the title.

Simpson led North to the finals in three of his five years as captain, and enters 2009 -- his 15th season -- with a career tally of 288 games.

"Obviously he's going to play on again next year and, whoever's in the job, [he can] help them and groom them instead of just retiring," Archer said.

"Then a captain has to jump straight in without his help."

Archer, who closed his own career at the end of 2007 after a club record 311 games, two premierships and a Norm Smith Medal, believes Brent Harvey or Drew Petrie stand out as replacements for Simpson but finds it difficult to split them.

"I'm sure Boomer or Drew's going to have the title, but Simmo's going to be right behind them, supporting them, directing them, when he needs to," he said.

"You line both of them up (Harvey and Petrie) and they've both got a lot of positives. [Drew]'s a quality player and a quality person. He's probably got about six years left in the game, so a little bit longer than Boomer to grow into the job.

"But, on the other hand, Boomer's an absolute superstar of the club and the AFL. He's come a long way in the last few years. He's captained Australia and did a great job, it didn't affect the way he played.

"He's the type of player who wins games off his own boot. He's inspirational [and] really well liked around the place by the players.

"It's very hard to tell who is going to be a good captain unless they're actually in the chair," he added. "But I think if you went for either one of those blokes you're not going to go too far wrong."

However, Archer wouldn't subscribe to the idea it was fitting for Harvey to be awarded the captaincy given his raft of other achievements.

"A lot of people say that: 'It'd be great just to have that on your CV [as well]'," he said. "[But] I'm not really in for the individual accolades or the things to put on your CV.

"It's more 'Is it (appointing Harvey) best for the team right now?' The answer's probably 'yes'. But the same thing can be said for Drew."