DREW Petrie isn't rattled by his responsibilities, despite being the only fit member of North Melbourne's leadership group for the last two weeks.

Petrie, 26, became acting captain after Brent Harvey was grounded by a serious elbow injury in round five, but since then deputies Brady Rawlings (calf) and Daniel Pratt (knee) have also been sidelined.

Harvey had played 101 consecutive games and Rawlings' run of 94 rivalled that durability until he was ruled out of the side that beat Port Adelaide in round seven.

Petrie agreed his own form suggested he had been bothered by the recent woes, but said he was relishing the chance to lead the side.

"I haven't played a really good game yet," he said. "I've played a lot of serviceable ones.

"Outsiders might believe that [it has affected me] but it hasn't burdened me one bit. By the time Brent's finished, I might have missed the opportunity to be captain so I'm glad to be stepping into his shoes.

"There are other guys like Michael Firrito, Leigh Harding, Sam Power and David Hale who are senior enough to help out in the role. They've been doing that, which is good and I haven't felt alone in the role at all."

Rawlings, Daniel Wells (hip) and Jack Ziebell (thigh) could all return for Saturday's clash with Fremantle – bolstering a North line-up that missed six of its best 18 players in last weekend's 70-point hiding from Geelong.

Petrie said the list of absentees could not be used as an excuse and instead pointed to the gains coach Dean Laidley had highlighted after the defeat.

"I went down there with confidence to win and knew if we started well and hung in all day and scrapped and scragged, we could pull it off," Petrie said.

"But from half time onwards we just worked on getting some positives out of the game. After half time they only outscored us by two goals, so that was a positive.

"Being able to play Nathan Grima, Sam Wright and Benny Ross, who has played a handful of games now, allowed those guys to see where we want to get to one day."

After spending half of last season as North's chief ruckman, Petrie has been given licence by Laidley to combine with David Hale and Aaron Edwards in the forward line.

Confident there was room in attack for all three players, Petrie said Edwards' early-season absence through suspension had slowed the development of that structure.

"I think it's been more stable having Todd Goldstein in the side the last fortnight, knowing that I won't be doing any of the ruck work," he said.

"It took four weeks before Azza (Edwards) could come into the side so now we're hopefully four weeks into that mould and can build some scores.

"It doesn't matter who kicks the goals, as long as the forward line structure works and we kick enough to win."

Petrie said a fresh approach had been taken to North's Monday skills sessions in recent weeks.

They have been run by the players, "purely to get some new voices on the track".