North Melbourne won't sledge Gold Coast players about the illicit drugs scandal engulfing the expansion club when they clash at Metricon Stadium on Saturday, caretaker coach Darren Crocker says.

Gold Coast and the AFL announced this week that they would investigate claims made by former Sun Karmichael Hunt to Queensland police that Suns players used illicit drugs in his presence last year.

Crocker told reporters on Wednesday he would not have to warn North's players against taunting their Suns opponents about Hunt's claims.

"I wouldn't be mentioning it and I don't think I'd need to mention it, and I don't think our players would go down that path," Crocker said.

"We'd like to consider ourselves a well-respected club (with) well-respected players, and I think we'd be more inclined to just let our football do the talking."

Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett is on track to make his long-awaited return on Saturday, having been sidelined since round two by his troublesome left shoulder.

Ablett had his shoulder reconstructed in August last year, and his rehabilitation since has been painfully slow. He returned to play the first two rounds this season, but was noticeably restricted and was later ruled out indefinitely.

Crocker was adamant North would not specifically target Ablett physically.

"It is always dangerous to poke the bear. As far as working him over, we would be looking to try and work over every Gold Coast player," Crocker said.

"Every player in a Gold Coast jumper we want to be aggressive on, we want to tackle aggressively, we want to put them under pressure.

"Gary's just another one of those players."

Ablett has an impressive recent record against North, but Crocker did not give much away about the Roos' plans to curtail the two-time Brownlow medallist, saying only that North's match committee had devised strategies to limit his influence in the midfield and in attack.

If he is tagged in the midfield, Ben Jacobs would appear Ablett's most likely shadow.

"From all accounts he's been able to run a lot, so his running fitness may not be an issue but obviously his match fitness will be down," Crocker said of Ablett.

"Whether they play him a little bit more forward, that's something that we speak about in match committee."

Crocker confirmed Saturday's game would be his last in charge after senior coach Brad Scott's return to work this week.

Scott had back surgery after North's round nine loss to Collingwood and has been easing himself back into work this week, spending a few hours a day at Arden Street.

Although Scott still cannot sit and has been forced to take public transport to work, Crocker said he was on track to resume in the coach's box against Geelong next Saturday night.

Crocker said forward Leigh Adams had consulted a specialist on Tuesday about his spate of recent concussions that have limited him to just three VFL games this year.

"I'm not too sure what the extent of that is, but as I've said before the club are just supporting Leigh with whatever path he decides to take with his football," he said.

Daniel Wells been sidelined since round two with chronic Achilles tendon soreness, but Crocker said the star midfielder was now "moving around a little bit better" and getting closer to a return.

North also announced on Wednesday that it had set a new club membership record of 40,372, up on the previous best mark of 40,349 set last year.

This is the third year in a row North has set a new membership benchmark.

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