It's been almost 12 years since North Melbourne legend Jason McCartney announced his retirement after playing his final game and one of the most memorable matches in AFL history.

Next week, McCartney will dust off his boots and return to Etihad Stadium to play alongside a handful of his former teammates including Glenn Archer, Jess Sinclair, Michael Martyn, Corey Jones and Martin Pike for the EJ Whitten Legends Game.

McCartney expects to be a little rusty when he takes to the field but is looking forward to playing with his old mates and showing his two young sons what he's made of.

"With Lucas and Aiden, they've never really seen me play, not that they will see much on Tuesday night anyway, but it's partly for them," McCartney told NMFC.com.au.

"I played in it the EJ Whitten game nine years ago and haven't played anything since really.

"I've played a couple of games with some other dads from school but that's it. The other part was, with my work and that, you're so busy in season that you don't get to catch up with many of the boys you actually played with. I probably saw it as a bit of an opportunity to catch up with some of those guys."

When McCartney last played in the charity game in 2005 he was considered 'recently retired' but it's a different story this time around.

"I still train a bit but I can't remember the last time I kicked the footy, nothing at that level," he said.

"I think I did bugger all last time to be honest. It was funny then...it will probably be a lot better this time because I'll play with more guys I played against for the majority of my career. That early one I played in, there were some guys I played with for the early part of my career, but it was more the older guys who were really heroes of mine to be honest."

Working as the list manager for the Bulldogs, the impact of Ted Whitten's legacy is felt even more strongly.

"I see his statue there every day and see Ted Junior around a fair bit. He's quite an iconic figure at the Western Bulldogs.

"It's for a great cause in promoting prostate cancer awareness and it's one that's fantastically well received and has been from the beginning. When I got contacted, funnily enough, I was around so I thought I'd have a bit of fun with it and see how I go."

McCartney won't be preparing for Tuesday's match the same way he did in his playing days at North but will be taking one particular precaution.

"I did go and get a mouthguard made up the other week after I saw Elliot Yeo's teeth flying out at the MCG. I thought it would probably be a wise move."

EJ Whitten Legends Game
Tuesday July 1, 7.30pm
Etihad Stadium
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