Dual North Melbourne captain Wayne Carey has weighed into the debate about Brent Harvey's ''team focus'' by suggesting it is the duty of every AFL captain to go out of their way to bring young teammates into the game - often at the expense of their own glory.

Harvey, the current Kangaroos' skipper, has come under fire from former Hawthorn champion, now SEN commentator, Dermott Brereton for being selfish during Saturday's game against Sydney, electing to snap for goal when there was an easy handball on over the top to an unmarked teammate in the goalsquare.

Asked about Brereton's comments, Carey said he remembered in the late 1990s when he'd look for youngsters such as Harvey and Peter Bell, who both made their North Melbourne debut in 1996, and try to give them an easy possession to boost their confidence - even if it was in defiance of team rules, or coach's orders, or his own chance to kick a goal.

''When you're captain, sure, your own form's important and you've got to set the right example at training and during games,'' Carey said on his weekly BackPagelead vidcast. ''But the other thing is to bring other players into the game and at times maybe give a handball to a kid who is struggling or needs to kick a goal.

''I remember vividly giving 'Boomer' the odd handball when he was a young player who'd just come into the side. (Coach) Denis Pagan would probably have preferred I'd gone back and had a shot at goal.

''I remember doing the same thing for Peter Bell when he first came to the club. Those little things will give them tremendous confidence by giving that handball. It's also good for the team. It's a team sport so those types of things are very important for team camaraderie. Being selfless is an integral part of playing a team sport.''

Brereton claimed on Saturday that Harvey needed more of a team focus.

"When he runs into an open goal and he has a ... teammate standing in the goal square unmarked and he doesn't give it ... what message do you think that sends to the rest of the team?" Brereton said.

"That's not good enough because young players see that."

Carey said, in principle, he agreed with that observation: ''In terms of that, I'd probably have to agree with Dermie. I really do think you give a handball over the top purely because that's the right thing to do.

''Boomer kicks some wonderful running goals, we know that, and he's very good at baulking players but there's a time and place for all of that. There's also a time and place for bringing other people around you into the game - and I think that was probably one of them.''

Carey paid tribute to Harvey, though, saying he was wonderful player with great skills and would be a deserved games record holder at North when he joins Glenn Archer on 311 games this weekend against Adelaide.

In his BPL Vidcast, Carey also touched on Karmichael Hunt's progress with the Gold Coast Suns and praised Collingwood's Dale Thomas as almost the complete package, with his tackling now a particular highlight.