Anthony Stevens says while his relationship with Wayne Carey remains non-existent, it won’t stop him being a part of the North Melbourne Football Club.

With the Kangaroos’ 1996 premiership side about to celebrate its 20-year reunion, Stevens said he would continue to attend functions and support the team, and doesn’t mind if Carey’s there also.

"It's a sad situation because it's a broken bond between the players,” Stevens told Fox Footy.

"I've never overstepped the mark in making my teammates decide between the two of us. We don't talk to each other. I don't give him too much."

Stevens and Carey shared a close friendship for much of their playing days at Arden Street before the sordid scandal ripped them apart.

"We were very close," Stevens explained.

"There was a group of four or five who were super close. Wayne was a part of that and so was I."

Stevens said Glenn Archer was by his side for at least a month after news of the affair broke and showed him what a real friend truly was.

For Archer, the situation today is still as awkward as it was all those years ago.

"I bump into Wayne every now and then at the odd football function and I always say hello," Archer said on SEN.

"I must admit it is very awkward because we were so close for so many years.

"One of the sad parts is that we won premierships together and as you would know when you win premierships together you look forward to the reunions.

"We will have our 20 year reunion next year and unfortunately you go to a reunion and there’s Wayne in one corner and Anthony in other corner and a lot of tension in the middle.

"The overriding emotion out of all this is sadness."

When Carey left the club in disgrace, Stevens said a group of other leaders stood up including David King, Leigh Colbert, Matthew Burton, Adam Simpson, Mick Martyn, Shannon Grant, Jason McCartney, Glenn Archer, John Blakey and Saverio Rocca.

"One of the bonuses of Wayne leaving, because he was such a dominant figure, we found 20 captains at the football club. It felt stronger."

Never one to demand the spotlight, Stevens said he was against the idea of being named Carey’s successor as captain, but eventually succumbed to pressure from his father, Denis Pagan and manager Ron Joseph.

"Denis wanted me to be captain," Stevens recalled.

"In the end I knocked it back two or three times. I was trying to sort my life out.

"In the end I was glad I took it because it gave me something to focus on."