North Melbourne’s stars have paid tribute to the impact of departing coach Brad Scott.

Scott shared the news with the playing group before the match against the Bulldogs, before publicly confirming he’d be stepping down in a media conference on Sunday.

Cunnington said one final victory was a fitting farewell for Scott.

"He backed me right from the start, early on he kept showing belief in me to be able to be who I am today,” he said on Fox Footy.

"So it was personal and I wish I could have him for my whole career but that's life.

"Today was a win for his whole career."

Fellow midfielder Shaun Higgins was also full of praise.

"I've spoken a lot about the influence he's had on me and where my football was at prior to coming over," he said.

"Everything that I've been able to do has been on the back of him being the coach.

"The relationship with him was unlike any other coach that I've had.

"I'll be forever indebted to the footy club but also to Scotty for the way that he was able to get me back on track as a footballer."

Higgins said the players would take the time to farewell Scott, but iterated the leaders' important role in supporting their fellow teammates during a challenging period. 

“There’s still a lot of football to go in the season and we need to put on the jumper and steer the club in the direction it needs to go,” he added.  

“The players, led by Jack, are stead-fast on doing the best we can for this footy club and also in the best interests of the playing group. With a lot of younger guys on the list, we need to make sure they’re looked after.”